Epiphany: Abyss
by Cuervo Blanco
Summary: Life is not for nice caring people. Life is not for the weak. Life is mean, harsh and cold. If you want o live, you have to fight for it. DarkHinata/DarkNaruto. Later, other pairings
1. Crying Rain

**AN:** Nas! Well, after a long time reading fanfiction I wanted to had a go on my own. This is a proyect that was lurking in my head for a while. It depends in how is recieve by you, dear reader, that I will work on it. So please, read it carefully and and review your honest opinion about it. I gonna wait only I recieve a certain number of reviews to publish the next chapter.

This will be a Dark Hinata/Dark Naruto story. It also will contain some Sakura and Sasuke bashing in the beginning. And some bashing in general. Other fact that you will need to know is that english is not my native language, so errors will come out in your reading, I apologize in advance.

**DISCLAIMER: **Naruto is not mine, sadly, in any shape or form. It belongs to Mr. Bakamoto...Kishi...something... whatever...

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><p><strong>Epiphany: Abyss<strong>

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><p><strong>Chp.1: <strong>**Prologue. Crying Rain.**

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><p><em>What is evil? A <em>manifold and infinite<em> _abstract _creature? Or a _carnivore_ vacuum, undercover by the darkness and fed by the absence of virtue?_

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><p>(Hinata POV)<p>

I hate this place. I can't see the stars or the beautiful moon. Instead, is raining. I'm sure that the ever falling water is carrying my blood around the land. I cannot feel the pain any more. I just can feel _his_ hand, his fingers intertwined with my own. I fantasised that maybe he died knowing that I was next to him, in the ground, all bloodied and beaten, with his cold dead fingers wrapped with loving hands, my own. But I know that he died before that. That I dragged my self next to him, my useless crushed legs be dammed, an lay on my back, forgetting the pain, with his cold fingers taken with my own, trying to see the moon one last time trough the dense gray mantle of clouds.

The Fourth War was over. We won and we lost. Both sides are totally annihilated. All the Zetsu Army, until the last one, was crushed. All the Allied Force was killed. Even the madman that was Uchiha Madara, perished. He recreated the Juubi, and tried to be its new jinchuuriki, but the stupid immortal overestimated himself. Mere seconds after sealing that monster within him, his body gave up, exploding in a morbid fascinating flashy way, bringing that _thing_ to the world. But Madara did´t thought about a small factor in his over calculated twisted master plan: Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto, having conquered the whole power of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, obtained his new "Demon Sage Mode" and, in the process, changed the seal in his body to the one that used the Sage of the Six Paths all those centuries ago. When Madara extracted the Kyuubi from him, he also pulled his soul. I don´t know how, but from within, Naruto´s Will destroy the Juubi. Sadly, it was too late. Everybody in this war was dead. I was maybe the last one around, and I was dying too.

So many regrets. I never beat my sister to the Heir Title, never surpassing her in our family fighting style. I never went beyond chuunin rank. I was never loved by my family. But my deepest regret, I never gained Naruto´s heart. After I confessed my feelings for him, he rejected them with my devotion for him in exchange of that pink haired bitch. Later, after we become, to my eternal dismay, friends, I asked him why. He's answer was direct, honest, and depressing. He told me that, while growing, he knew that I was observing him, watching, never talk to him or play with him. He understood my shyness, but the fact was that I never did anything to ease his lonely pain hurt him even more than the adults. For him, that was water under the bridge now, but deep down, his heart was still hurt thanks to his upbringing.

I was depressed a couple of days after that. I wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that I care deeply for him, that I would be next to him for all eternity, that I would fallow him until the deepest rings of hell for him. But all that anger, all that despair I redirected toward myself. I was the one to blame, the one that never did nothing, the ever hesitating, the ever self doubting. In the end, I only could be his friend, the best that one could ask, and see, in the sidelines, how that Haruno bitch used him as a consolation price over her precious _emo, drama queen, traitor_. But including them, I didn't do a good job. I never saw coming Sakura´s betrayal. Her back stabbing, literally, Naruto-kun, working for the _emo traitor_ in the shadows, putting aside her village, her nation, her friends, for the avenger. But she had a fitting punishment for a traitor. Killed by her Uchiha after the job was done and she was of no use for him. That killed Naruto in the inside. He was never the same again, he never smiled again. And I´m sure that was the reason that he was captured by Madara in the end before he could recover from the wounds inflicted by Sakura.

At least everything is at peace now. With practically all the ninjas around the world dead, it would be quiet for a long while. Some wishful thinking on my part hoped that it would last forever, but humanity had the knack of never learning of its mistakes.

With that bittersweet last thought, I, Hyuuga Hinata, closed my all seeing eyes one last time. A small, shy smile, was fixed on my face while I was swallowed by the darkness.

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><p>(Normal POV)<p>

When Hinata open her ayes again she was floating in a gray like mist. Totally naked. But she didn't care. The first thing she discovered was that she couldn't move, she even couldn't blink. It was forced peace, but peace nonetheless. The pale eyed girl stay like that for what it seems an eternity. Time didn't have a meaning in this place.

"**Finally, you wake up, little princess."** A dark twisted backward sounding voice boomed form everywhere.

"What…Who…?" started Hinata´s cracked voice.

Suddenly, the mist started to thicken and darken in from of Hinata. As soon as it started, it stopped. Now, face to face, was Hinata with a twisted carbon copy of herself. This one has her normally white sclera totally black, and her pale white eyes were golden in colour. All her hair was white and the skin was like it was painted in the white too. For The final touch in what looked like an evil version of herself, E-Hinata was portraying an evil sick smile on her face. (**AN: **Imaging a hollow-Hinata)

"**YO!"** Half saluted, half waved the newcomer in her backward voice.

"Who…who are you? Why you look like me?" said Hinata, evidently shocked.

"**Me, little princess? Me is you, just better."** The confusion on Hinata´s face was clear, because the E- Hinata continued on. **"I´m part of you, or more accurately, I am your darkest side, the one that you had buried within. You can call me Yamihime."**

"But how?"

"**The Kyuubi. You see, even after your precious Naruto died, some residual yoki stayed in his body. It had the phantom will of the Kyuubi and was trying to scape before being consumed by the Juubi. The yoki in the air also was helping, but it was not enough, so when you took Naruto´s hand, it latched to you, trying to posses you. Sadly, it only quicked your dead, but in a last effort it latched in to your soul, finding the darkness in your heart. It tried to devour you again, but it was too weak and because of this I was born, and the reason why I am in front of you right now."**

"But...but… that can't be. I´m not evil. I am not a bad person." Said a teary eyed Hinata.

"**Stop lying to yourself. You know that you hated them. You hate your **_**family**_** for the abused and the way they treated you. You hate your village not acknowledging you or your crush, Naruto. Heck, you even hate Naruto for his rejection. But above all, you hate yourself for being so weak, for not being there for Naruto. Each time you buried your hatred, your sadness, your sorrow, your guilt, your envy…Every time you tried to burry all this, deep in your heart, I was becoming stronger. But, sadly, for all my intentions to try and controlling you and be free, I can't, because we are dieing. Unless… "**

"What? What can we do?" asked Hinata desperate.

"**Do you want to save Naruto and get a better chance in lived? What will you do to fix things for the better?"**

"Anything" said Hinata without hesitation. She missed the evil smirk that appeared for a second in her alter face.

"**There may something that can be done. The part of the Kyuubi that is now part of me had an interesting knowledge. A way to send our soul to our past self body. But they are some rules to it."**

"What kind of rules?" Hinata was awed about the existence of something like that.

"**First, we had to do it correctly in our first try. Second, we will end fused together when we arrived."**

"What do you mean?"

"**Right now we are separated identities. Instead of bein****g an "us" it will be a "we". So, we are going to suffer some personalities changes. Any questions?" **said Yamihime with a too innocent smile.

"Why are you risking you existence too? You will disappear in a way."

"**You forget one thing. I'm also you. I loved Naruto too. We may disagree with each other methods, and hopefully when we return we will change to something more… aggressive, but we are still the same person. So, will you do it?"** she sound hopeful.

"I will, what I have to do?"

"**Just sync your chakra with mine. I gonna do the rest. And one more thing… this is going to hurt…a lot."**

Before Hinata could say anything, the Hyuuga felt a wave of orgasmic pleasure through her body. It felt so good that pure ecstasy was cursing through every pour of her body. Internally, Yamihime couldn't help her smirk. She couldn't believe the naivety of the little human. That She, the Kyuubi no Kistune, could be defeated by someone mere dark side. Pathetic! She of course wrapped the truth to her convenience. She needed a new host, since her body was sucked by Madara. She planned to go to the past and overtake the young Hyuuga body and crushed her soul. Then, she would track down the Naruto-gaki and make him summit to her. He would be her slave and when she finishes with him, she would recover what was rightfully hers, her power. But as somebody said in the past, "a plan never survives the encounter with the enemy". Kyuubi, as many before her, made a simple mistake in her calculation: Uzumaki Naruto.

Somehow, a remnant of his soul travelled with her and started to take hold of her. She try to beat him, but Uzumaki Naruto´s will was something forged in legends.

In a weird twist of destiny, the last will of Naruto, Hinata´s soul, Hinata´s darkness and Kyuubi´s soul piece, combined. The end result was a new Hinata, ironically, like the one Yamihime portrayed her. The same Hinata, now with some radom knowledge of the Kyuubi that survived the fusion, and the dark instincts of herself combined with a part of Naruto´s presence and determination.

It was this new Hinata that woke up three days after her first day in her last year in the academy, in her bed, covered in bruised and totally sore, product of what she remember one of the most brutal training sessions with her sister and father in her childhood.

"_So, it begins…"_ though the time travelled with a familiar sick sweet twisted smile in her face.


	2. The Curse of Knowledge

**AN: **Wow, in just a couple of hours like seven people add me to their story alert. Thanks guys, you are awesome. I was such in a good mood that i decide to publish this chapter. It was longer, but i cut it so the next part will be better, and longer. Is short, but get moving some plot point across. About that. I know where i want to go with this, but they are somethings in between to be defined yet. So, what do you think it should happen. A training arc before graduation or we can jump to the next part altogether? Read and review or pm me to know your answer. ^^

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Waking in Wonderland. The Curse of Knowledge<strong>

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><p><em>As foolish as it may appear, you are, in a sense, a prisoner of the pain, which was intolerable. You're thinking, what could I do to relieve myself of it. If it becomes intense enough, you're perfectly willing to accept cardiac arrest as a possible way of getting rid of the pain. - Dr. Michael DeBakey <em>

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><p><strong>Last Chapter:<strong>

_It was this new Hinata that woke up three days after her first day in her last year in the academy, in her bed, covered in bruised and totally sore, product of what she remember one of the most brutal training sessions with her sister and father in her childhood._

_"__So, it begins…"__ though the time travelled with a familiar sick sweet twisted smile in her face._

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><p>One of the first things that the new Hinata knew was how stupid her old self was in trusting a self proclaimed evil identity. It was just pure luck that the end result was, while unexpected, in her favor. The second thing that she knew was that she was her family punching bag at the time, and it would continue like that if she didn´t do something about it. The third thing was that this was the academy year that Naruto would enter her class; so, it was the best opportunity to become his friend, and later, something more. Her family will be a problem on that, though. The fourth thing was that she couldn't tell a soul about her…travel. The Kyuubi did mention about great deal of pain, but she only felt immeasurable pleasure. Thinking about it brought an intense blush in the eleven year old girl. The true of the matter was that, while it was not pain in the physical pain, it will really bad in the emotional level. What Kyuubi didn't tell her was that she would be unable to share her time related adventures with anyone. She literally was incapable of it. One of the prices to pay was to carry the burden on her own. If she plan to be close to Naruto, no matter how intimidate she will be with him, she would not be able to tell him all her secrets. Also, convince him about her sincerity will be a problem, but she hope that her plans would unfold without any further complications.<p>

Getting out of the bed, Hinata start healing herself with the practical medical knowledge that she had acquired from Shizune. She was disappointed that she wasn't trained by Tsunade herself, but the buxom blond was focused on the pink haired banshee. It didn't matter now. While she was healing herself, Hinata noticed a couple of things. The first one was that, her body was healing faster than normal. It was not as ridiculously fast as Naruto, but way to fast for a normal person. Most of her bruises were totally gone without her help, and in their places was smooth, if tender, skin. The second, and most important thing, was her chakra. IT felt different. It felt…heavier. Quickly activating her Byukugan, she confirmed her suspicions. Her chakra was, for a lack of better word, denser. Her chakra points, and chakra system, were thicker, not by much that it would warrant unwanted attention but enough that it would past as grow spurt…chakra wise. But this was not what called her attention, no, what her called attention was that she had been using her chakra none stop for the last fifteen minutes and she hadn't felt a dent in her reserves. Her chakra pool was as large as she remembered when she was that age, that wasn't saying much. Deciding to test the theory, she focused on her chakra pool while leaving her Byukugan active. After full five minutes she had her answer. It wasn't as she had huge chakra reserves or insane chakra control, it was that her chakra system recover the lost chakra as fast as she use it. This meant that technically, she had infinite chakra reserves, given that she didn't used ALL her chakra at once. Other, yet pleasant, surprise.

Taking a bath and changing her clothes, Hinata go out as quietly as possible of her room. It was Thursday, so she had academy training in an hour. In her way, she saw Hanabi unleashing a barrage of hits in a training-like-human-dummy. She didn´t had to active her dojutsu to know that the younger sister was watching her and sneering at her in disgust. In the past, Hinata refused to go full out while sparring with her sister because, each time she saw her, she remembered her mom. But by doing this, she was not only considered weak and a failure, but also Hanabi had take advantage of it and learnt that her older sister was beneath her, so it was her right to mistreat her. This time, little Hanabi would learn a lesson, obviously in the hard way, about proper behavior toward her onee-sama.

Getting out of the Hyuuga compounds, Hinata took her usual way to the academy. In her way, she was thinking what she would do. The first thing and foremost was to befriend Naruto and help him in getting stronger. But her concern was the others. If Hinata had any say about it, the _Harubitch_ and the _Emochiha_ should be dead as soon as possible. But those murders would rise a lot suspicions and she could not let herself be caught, as much as she wanted to bath in their blood. She just has to conform herself with beating the crap out of them during their spars. Approaching the academy building, Hinata was outlining her´s, and Naruto´s, new training regime.

To her surprise, she was not the first to arrive to the classroom. Half of her classmates were there including, to her delight, Naruto. He was as she remembered, in his orange clad jumpsuit. He was sitting alone with his fake brilliant smile while watching the Haruno and Ino arguing, just short of a cat fight really, about who will end next to the traitor. Well, this was her chance to make her Naruto-kun forget about the banshee. She walk where he was sitting.

"Ano… Can I sit next to you, Naruto-kun?" said Hinata, without her past annoying stutter, in a shy voice. Man, did she knew how to act or what? Hinata was very aware that a lot people of her class stop whatever they were doing just to watch the events unfold. Pricks!

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><p>Naruto was having a nice day. Despite that he recently flunked the final test for a second time; he was determined to succeed in his road to be the best Hokage ever, dattebayo. Now, in a new group of gennin hopefuls, he would go to show his awesome ninjas skills. Sadly, Sakura-chan wasn't paying him any attention at the moment or at his epic awesome…awesomeness. Instead, she was giving her all her beautiful attention to the drama queen, Uchiha Sasuke. What was with that guy, was he even straight? Half of the female population had the heels over him, ready to drop ANYTHING to gain his affection (he new, he had follow him a couple of time just to undercover the secret of his success with the fair gender), and what the bastard did? He ignores them. How messed up was that?<p>

But not worried Sakura-chan, when you discover the sad true about the emo sexual prefer… that… the awesome Uzumaki Naruto, future best Hokage, would be there for you.

It was in this tangent of thoughs that Naruto notice that one of his classmates, _"was it Hanako? Hanawa? Hinarin? Hinako? Hinata? Yeah, her name was Hinata"_, was asking him something.

"Errr… can you repeat? I wasn´t paying attention." Said Naruto with his trademark foxy grin while scratching his nape.

"Ano.. I asked you if I could sit down next to you" said the girl with the weird looking, yet cool, eyes.

"Sure. By the way, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage." Said Naruto while tending his hand.

"Please to meet you, my name is Hyuuga Hinata, Naruto-kun." Said the now named Hinata while taking his hand.

Naruto was feeling off. It was the first time that any kid of his age, let alone a cute girl, was friendly to him. Also it was the matter that she was addressing him in closed familiar way. It felt nice.

"May I ask you a question?" said Naruto.

"You already did Naruto-kun, but go with it anyway" said playfully Hinata while trying to cover her giggles behind the sleeves of her oversized jacket.

For a second Naruto did the most mature thing, he pout. It was really cute, for Hinata at least, but later he smile in a more easy going manner. "Why are you calling me Naruto-kun? We barley know each other."

"Oh, I didn´t intend to make you feel uncomfortable" said Hinata with sly panic. In true, she was having the time of her live while watching Naruto pale all of a sudden because he thought that he was causing her distress.

"No, no. Is not that. It felt nice. I just was wondering, that's all." He said quickly.

"Is o.k. Naruto-kun, I was just having some fun with you" said Hinata unable to hide her smile this time. "Let's make a deal, I can call you Naruto-kun and you can call me Hinata-chan, how that sounds?"

"Hinata-chan, that wasn't very nice" said Naruto faux whining with a smile in his face. "But I will like that" said in a more subdued tone.

"Then is a deal. Friends." Said Hinata while taking out her pinky.

For Naruto, while it was really childish, it had other meaning. It was stupid, but it was the first time somebody, in such innocent way or any other way, offer friendship to him. He was, all of a sudden, overwhelm with emotions that he couldn't discern. "Are you sure? Do you mean it?" said with uncertainty the blond.

"Of course silly." Said Hinata with a smile, while doing all in her power to not to leash her anger under the stupid villagers, civils and ninjas alike, for causing such emotional damage to her Naruto-kun.

Naruto, with a pinky on his own, accepted her friendship while grinning like a maniac in the prospect of having his first friend.

"So, Naruto-kun…" started Hinata, "…do you know were is this place called Ichiraku´s Ramen? Somebody told me that they have the best ramen in the Fire Country and I want to try it out."

And with that single question, Hyuuga Hinata ascended from Friend to Best Friend in Naruto´s list as fast as light.

Naruto´s grin was the only answer Hinata needed.

"_Point for me. Soon, Naruto-kun, very soon _they_ will pay for their sins against us and, at last, you and I will be together as it should _had_ been…"_

AND CUT!

Love it? Hate it? R&R


	3. By small simple things

**Chapter 3:**** By small simple things…**

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><p>"<em>It was the fact that it was going in such little ways."<em> – An allusion to the poem **The Spring and the Fall** by Edna St. Vincent Millay.

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><p>"<em>Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."<em> Mahatma Gandhi.

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><p>Uzumaki Naruto was not a person prompt to think often, to meditate or plan too far ahead. He was the first to recognize this simple fact. But there were times that even a more action oriented guy like him took their time to think things through.<p>

It was the third week since he started the academy. By far, it was the best year ever. He had a friend that, not only play with him, and believe in him, but also help him to achieve his dreams. He still remembered that simple conversation, that changed his outlook of certain things, with his pale eyed friend.

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

It was the end of the first week in the last year of the academy. A first week full of fun and adventure that Naruto was sharing with her newest best friend, Hyuuga Hinata. Currently, they were under the shade of a tree in the lest visited side of the north park. Both were relaxing after visiting Ichiraku´s after classes were done that day.

"Ano…Naruto-kun?" started Hinata after a while without saying nothing. Naruto just stared her, silently telling her to continue. "Can I ask why you want to be Hokage?" Hinata, of course, new the answer, but she needed that Naruto learn something from Naruto.

"Because everybody will acknowledge me and stop looking me down." Said Naruto without hesitation. Hinata didn't expect anything lest.

"But, what that mean? What one has to do to become Hokage?"

"The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village, so I need to become the strongest" replied Naruto in a very Naruto way.

"Then Naruto, what are you doing to become that strong?" THAT surprised the blond. He train like crazy most of the time, but somehow he suspect that it was not what Hinata was aiming at. Hinata, on the other hand, could "see" Naruto in a odd moment of thinking about answer or trying to decipher the true meaning of her question. She gave him a soft smile.

Naruto just sighed. He didn't think that proclaiming to the four winds that he train like there was no tomorrow was the best think to do. "Hinata-chan, what do you mean?"

"Naruto-kun, I now that you train a lot, and that says a lot about your dedication, but, is it enough? What about the time you use for your, really funny in my opinion, pranks? Do you train in everything a Hokage needs to know?"

"I don't know Hinata-chan! Nobody tell me. Pranks are just my way to bent some ang… stress out." said Naruto, kind of frustrated. Hinata didn't miss his little slip.

"Then Naruto-kun, what we need to do?"

"I don't know. I just don't know. What do you think we should do?" Hinata may become crazy, well, crazier, but she could swore that she detected some frustration and…hopeless? tone in his voice. He had his eyes downcasted, looking the floor.

"Naruto-kun?" Asked Hinata softly. "Naruto-kun, we are training to be shinobi, so, what a shinobi do when they need something?"

"A shinobi seek a solution to his problems the most efficient, fastest and secure way possible." Repeated Naruto from the academy textbook that had been reading for the past six years.

"So, what WE need to do Naruto-kun?"

"We need to find the answer." Said Naruto in a brighter mood, like he just discovery a lifelong mystery. But his sudden joy was short lived, because a frown marked his face. "But, how and where we can get those answers?"

"Think about it. Where, or more specifically, who may now best what we are looking for?"

This time, Naruto got the answer immediately. "HOKAGE-JIJI!" Shouting the right answer it seems it was the Naruto thing to do.

Hinata just smile at his antics.

"Then go and ask the Hokage. I gonna be kind of busy this weekend, but on Monday, I want to know the answer. I gonna prepare something special for the both of us. Deal?" said Hinata.

Naruto was kind of disappointed to now that his friend would be doing a lot of things without him, but he understood that they also need some time alone. "Ok, Hinata-chan. May I ask, what are you going to do?"

"Is just my _family_ Naruto-kun, the may want _to spent more time together_." Said Hinata in a darker tone. Naruto noticed but didn't comment about because he didn't know what to think. After all, he had never encountered the term of "abusing family" before.

And with that, both of them finish their playtime and part ways.

(End of flashback)

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><p>Thinking more carefully, Naruto was grateful of her friend. After that conversation with Hinata, the never patient Naruto went hunting down the Hokage to ask right away his doubts. That conversation… that conversation changed Naruto. Now, the blond could not believe how childish and selfish he had been. But most of all, he was confused of what path to take. One of the answers that the Hokage gave Naruto was he one that hit him the hardest.<p>

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

It had been almost an hour since Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uzumaki Naruto had been talking about the pros and cons of being Hokage.

"Hey jiji, what is something that you didn't expected about becoming Hokage?" asked Naruto. The past hour had been an eye opener for him.

The _God Shinobi_ sighted softly. He new that Naruto will not like the answer, but the long thoughtful conversation that they had shared had told the old Sarutobi that the blond was not as stupid as everybody seems to think, and that he was mature enough to handle the answer.

"They are a lot of those when you reach my position, Naruto. But I think, the solitude and loneliness are the most glaring." Seeing the surprised face on the kid prompted the old battle monkey to elaborate. "Naruto, as the leader of the village I had to make decision that will benefit the village as a whole. Sometimes these decisions will affect negatively in some individuals. That's how you start getting enemies, inside the village more than in the outside. In that aspect, there are times that you will have to send people that you care about to do mission, but also to their deaths. That's how you start losing friends, or even family, to keep happy and safe our village in particular, and the Fire Nation in general." A pause to take some pleasure from his old trusted pipe. "Do you wondered why the Hokage had to be the most powerful ninja around? If you consider that as Hokage I almost never go on a mission, and, if I do, is inside the village itself, then, why is that? The answer is simple in nature, and really depressing. The Hokage is the strongest so he can keep his own forces and people in check. Is hardcore discipline with healthy degrees of fear to the Hokage that keep his own ninjas to do whatever they want. Sadly, sometimes that is not enough, as you had discover in the past." Said a regretful Hokage.

Naruto understood at once that he was referring to the times the mobs chased him and beat him to brink of death.

(End of flashback)

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><p>That conversation ended like 20 minutes after with a promise to the old man that he will think deeply about it. And some deeply thinking he did.<p>

To tell the true, Naruto missed his friend a lot, especially because he wanted to talk to her about what he learnt to reach the right conclusions. Thinking it over and over he discovered that he was unsure if he still wanted the old man's hat. The harsh reality of his dream washed over him like vinegar on deeply cuts in his skin. That is why he waited for Monday with anxiety and apprehension.

Thinking of how amazing her friend was brought a full grin to the blond´s face.

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

It was Monday and the bell marked the end of the classes for the day. In Naruto´s opinion it was too slow. After gathering their things, both friends walk to their newly discovered private training spot lost between the training areas.

After getting comfortable, Naruto proceed to tell Hinata about his conversation with the Hokage and what he though about it, inlcuding his doubts and fears.

"But Naruto-kun, isn't being Hokage your dream? I know you can do it if you put all your heart in it." The conviction and faith in him that she expresses from her heart warmed Naruto inside. Faster than he could think, Hinata was becoming the most important person in his life.

"I know that Hinata-chan, but something that the old man said made me rethink twice about it. He said that I shouldn't care about what people though about me. That the opinions that matter the most were the ones of my precious people. Others had to make the choice to accept me or reject me, but I shouldn't care about it because it is their decisions and their free will. I cannot force them to it." Said the blond kind of depress about it. "Do you think less about me for being a coward and giving up my goals?"

"Never think that Naruto-kun. If anything, I'm prouder of you. It takes grate deal of courage to recognize that we were wrong at something and to try to fix it takes even more courage. But what do you want to do know."

"I still want to be a ninja. I just want to be so strong that I can protect you and my other precious people of any danger. I want to be a better ninja."

"Naruto-kun, do you really consider me one your precious people?" said kind of emotional the Hyuuga girl.

"Of course, Hinata-chan! You, the Ichirakus and Hoakge-jiji are the world to me." Exclaimed Naruto passionally. He was getting better in keeping himself in check in his emotional outburst, but he still had a long way to go.

"Then, you are the most important people to me too Naruto-kun. Now, we had to train together to achieve our goals. Let start now. To become a better ninja."

"Hai!"

And with that the two friends start a road that will lead them in the future in being the most fearsome and strongest ninjas that ever walk on earth.

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And there you go.

This is the beginning of the training arc. It just going to take another chapter, being the next one from Hinata´s perspective. I apologize for the lack of action, but there is a need of character building some upcoming things don't look like the go out of the blue.

R&R


	4. Rising from the bottom of the chain…

**AN: **Wow, thanks for the response. I forgot that anonymous reviews were disabled, but that's fixed already so anybody can review now^^. About the errors, I know I made mistake, and I intend to go back at some point a beta them if I don't get a beta (anybody want to apply?), but I had read every chapter myself a couple of times before publish them I, as the author, missed those error. Sad, isn't it?

Enjoy the chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4:<strong>** Rising from the bottom of the chain…**

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><p><em>"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.<em>" John Lennon.

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><p>Hyuuga Hinata was thinking how things were coming lately. It was the third week since she came back. Three weeks of a growing relationship with, without a doubt in her mind and heart, the love of her life. She smiled softly thinking about how much Naruto had changed after his conversation with the Hokage. Indeed, he lived to his title of the most unpredictable person she had ever met.<p>

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

"So Naruto-kun, I had been thinking about what our weaknesses are and I discovered that your main one is, practically wise, your lack of charka control. That's why you failed in creating normal clones. In my case, is that my chakra reserves are really low." That last part was a half true, given her discovery about the density of her chakra. "So, we gonna concentrate first in your control with some chakra exercises and later we´ll work on building my reserves."

And so they did. But Naruto, being the way he was, had a disastrous time with the leaf balancing exercise. It was after a couple of hours later that the blond´s short patience reached its limit.

"This sucks! I don't see the point in this Hinata-chan." Said a very frustrated Naruto with his constant failures in, to him, a stupid academy exercise.

Hinata new what the problem was, and how to solve it, but she need Naruto to think that she also was learning with him or he may get frustrated even more. She had a plan anyway and this was a good moment as any to put in action.

"Really Naruto-kun? Do you really think that chakra control is so useless?" said a Hinata in a too innocent tone.

"Heck, yeah!" exclaimed the oblivious boy.

Hinata just raised an eyebrow. Walking next a rock boulder three times her height, she raised her right arm with an extended finger and hit the rock with it. What happened next Naruto would have sworn that was impossible. The boulder exploded in tiny little pieces, lifting a cloud of dust and dirt.

"That…that… THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!" said the astonished blond. "But how do you did that?"

"That, Naruto-kun, was pure chakra control. That is no all I can do…" and in a blink of an eye, somehow Hinata crossed the 3 meters that separated them. Naruto found her smiling face mere inches of his own. The sudden closeness took by surprise the blond, who felt to the floor in a undignified manner. Hinata just did de most sensible thing at the moment: she laught…really hard.

"Sorry. Naruto-kun, I couldn't resist." Said the girl, after calming down a bit. "That is one of the uses that chakra control has. It also help ninjas that specialize in genjutsu. But also it helps tremendously well in the difficult path of being a medic nin."

"Medic nin? What those do?"

"Let me show you." By this time, the Hyuuga had sat next to the blond in the floor. Taking out a kunai, she proceeded to deeply cut her arm. Naruto panicked at lighting speed, but insurances from Hinata keep him in check. A green warn glow appeared in her other hand, which she moved and put it over her wound. After a couple of seconds she removed her hand letting the world to see her nice smooth pearl skin. Naruto was in awe.

"Medic nins are one of the rarest ninja type and one of the most useful. They required an insane chakra control level and a big chakra reserve. One in a team increase a lot the survival rate of its members and the success on the mission. Senju Tsunade, the Slug Tamer and one of the Legendary Three Ninjas of Konoha, is the premier example of this, being the first SS class kunoichi in modern history."

"That's awesome Hinata-chan, are you gonna be a medic nin?"

Hinata shook her head. "Once I wanted to, but my constitution is not for it. In true, I´m more heavy hitter type and scout type too. So, instead of focusing on it, I decided to be more suited for combat. Still, I managed to learn some medic jutsus just in case I will need it, but I´m just an amateur compare to a full fledged medic nin." Hinata could see that her speech gave Naruto a lot to think about. "Anyway, I suggest that we go to Iruka-sensei, he can help us with your problem. I gonna explain it to you on the way there."

"But Hinata-chan, I don't think Iruka will help us." Said a clearly worried Naruto. Hinata understood where his fears came from.

"Is okay Naruto-kun, I'm with you, so everything will be all right." And Naruto calm down at that immediately.

Hinata marvelled at her growing power on Naruto. She felt extremely pleased.

(End of flashback)

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><p>The encounter with Iruka was more boring that she thought it would be. But what they gained was priceless nonetheless.<p>

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

"So, let me get this straight…" said Iruka with and incredulously look, "…you…" pointing to the teens, "… want that me…" pointing to himself, "… give you high level chakra exercise because Naruto…" pointing to said blond, "… had as four times the chakra of what a jounin have and this is the reason why he can't do a normal clone." All the way the two teens where nodding in sync. "That… make perfectly sense. Why I didn't think about it sooner? Why any other teacher thought about either?" Iruka asked himself rhetorically. "Come tomorrow, I think I can have what you need by then."

(End of flashback)

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><p>She and Naruto did return the next day. It seems that Iruka had some contacts in the ANBU because the scroll with the chakra control exercises were really high level, with the addition of the middle level ones like tree and water walking.<p>

It had taken two whole weeks, but both Hinata and Naruto had master all of the exercises. For Hinata, including the ones that she didn't knew about. They start with tree climbing, since the lower levels could not be achieved by Naruto then.

Hinata remember the outcome of that, because she applied a different method to teach Naruto than the one that was used normally, a method that she and Yuuhi Kurenai had created after she became chuunin.

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

"Okay Naruto-kun. Usually, when ninjas are learn the tree climbing exercise, they do it running up and down the tree, but we are going to do it differently. Come in from of this one." Naruto, of course, just wanted to find the biggest tree after Hinata explained what they were doing, but by this point he trust her unconditionally so did what he was told. "Okay, know put one of your foot in the trunk." And he did. "Now, try to feel your chakra on the bottom on your feet, try to feel how it start sticking in the trunk. When you feel that your chakra in your feet had a steady connection with the trunk, then put your other leg and do the same until you reach the top." Naruto did as instructed. It took him a almost ten minutes to finish that first step, but the next one just took him six, and it continue cutting the time until it was totally instinctual. "Naruto, this gonna help you in a lot of ways. First, you gonna had an stronger connection with your chakra, thus you will know faster when you are using it in the wrong way. Also, this will help you to developed basic sensor skills. For now on, we gonna apply this method in every exercise. Training is a way to know yourself better and what you can do, so we are not in a hurry."

(End of flashback)

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><p>Once a gain, Naruto surprised her. He absorbed all their training like sponge, faster that Hinata thought possible. It really was humbling. But Hinata was proud of her Naruto-kun, and she made sure that he new it.<p>

After the tree climbing exercise, they came back to the leaf balancing exercise. Applying the new concept, Naruto managed it after few tries. To up the notch, they started to experiment with what they could do. The first thing that they did was add more leaves so they could try balancing them in different parts of the body perfectly. It was difficult at first, because they had to divide their focus, but later gained the hang of it. It got to a point where they where cover totally with leaves in what looked like an autumn mimickery of a snowman. When they couldn't do further than that, they start using more solid objects, like pebbles. It was a lot more difficult maintaining them hovering around your body for a while, but they became masters of it. Then they moved to combine the exercises of leaves and pebbles with the tree climbing one. It was ridiculously harder, but they could feel the benefit of it.

The next stage was more intense, but they had already understood the principles of the exercise. Water walking was and incredible surprise, because, in their scroll said that it was in a whole new level of difficulty, yet, they mastered it after a few tries. What they did next was, again, combine the leaves and pebbles exercise and practice on it until it became second nature. After that, it was surprising for both Naruto and Hinata: the water walking had different levels of difficulty. After learn how to walk, they also had to learn how to move on the top of the water without moving a muscle, but making the water carry them. After that it became even harder because they had to create water currents, whirlpools, and any combination that they could thing of.

The last, and the most demanding stage, was to create perfect water spheres and balancing them around their body like in the leaves exercise. Not just that, they need to create as many as they could and maintain them as long. Also, they need to create a water ball and moved around their bodies without letting them to make contact with the water under their fit and, later, with the ground too. Let's just say that they were some awkward moments revolving around wet clothes… This probed to be useful because when they master it, they start playing soccer on the water (**AN:** I'm not sure if they narutoverse know about the soccer game that we do, but I kind of saw it during Gaara´s childhood arc between the other kids in Suna). At first they had difficulty in maintaining the ball formed after losing contact with it, but later they got the hand around it.

The last exercise was the balancing of kunai, shuriken and sembon. It seems that metal was harder to do than leaves and pebbles. But Naruto and Hinata past experience with chakra exercises, adding their strange method and combining the other exercises found it really easy to perform. They even got a hold of some cheap swords, maces, clubs and even staffs and learn how to balance them in ANY part of their bodies. They, of course, stuck to their policy of combining past exercise with the new ones they got.

By the end of the first week they had mastered everything in every shape and form that hey could thing of. And the results were showing. By now, Naruto not only could perform the clone technique, he also could do all academy techniques soundless and sealess. They could do it really fast too. By Hinata´s part, she got interesting results with her juunken. All she could feel was glee when she was thinking how the Hyuuga would be dumbfounded, wondering about what hit them.

But the greatest part of it all, aside to get even closer to Naruto, was the theory that she had developed before coming back, but that she couldn't put it to test, was being proven right.

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><p>(Flashback)<p>

It was the start of the second week of training, and both Naruto and Hinata were really satisfied of their progress, especially Naruto that now didn't felt like less of a ninja because his past inability to create a clone.

"Naruto-kun, there is something that I'm to test with you. Is something that I had been devising and, while is totally untested, if it work, it would give us an edge that nobody has. I'll understand if you don't want to try it, but I'll LOVE to test it with you."

"Hinata-chan, you already know that I'll do whatever you ask me, so what is this about?"

"Is something that I coded _Ghost Walker._ Is…"

(End of flashback)

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><p>Indeed, it had worked even better than she thought. It had been a week, and she knew that they still need a lot of progress in it, but she was sure that they will succeed.<p>

Sadly, she new everything good couldn't last too long. It was Saturday, and a coupe of minutes before, a cadet branch member of the Hyuuga had informed her that her father wanted to see her. Considering that Hyuuga Hiashi hadn't spoken to her on personal level in more than seven months, she had a suspicious theory about what her father want to talk about. She knew that a Hyuuga member had seen her the day before in Ichiraku´s eating ramen and chatting happily with her Naruto-kun.

"Hinata-sama, your father is ready to see you" said the branch member guarding the door of her father study.

"_Let's face the music…"_

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And, that's it. With this finished the first training arc. There will we other in the future, don't when though. Some ideas in their training are not mine but form other authors, sadly, I don't recall them, so I can't tell from who.

I let some things of their training secret, after all, I want to surprise you later on^^

R&R


	5. A bad day blessings…

**AN: **I have to thank everybody for their honest opinion. This chapter is going to be the turn point of the story that the beginning of the unfolding main plot. Hopefully you'll like it.

I had to thanks everybody, but I give especial thanks to **Kyuubi123**, for his analysis, encouragement and the great idea that I'm using in this chapter. THANKS DUDE!^^

From now on, the story is going to be rated M.

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><p><strong>Chapter 5:<strong>** A bad day blessings…**

_"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day. You had a bad day once. Am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day, and everything changed." _Unknown.

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><p>Somewhere she could hear the distant, intermittent echo of water droplets and sometimes the muted thud of her own heartbeat. But the overwhelming sound was of nothingness; a heavy, malignant silence so massive she could feel it hanging oppressively over her. The emptiness was its own entity, closing in around her, threatening to crush her with its sheer weight. For Hyuuga Hinata that was how she viewed the meetings with her father. Now, sitting in front of his calm stare, watching her, analysing the smallest of details in her figure and posture, she could add something more to those sad memories: cold indifference.<p>

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><p>Hyuuga Hiashi was staring at her daughter with his impassive Hyuuga expression: the ultimate poker hard face. He absently noted that her posture was perfect, as a Hyuuga should, and that the girl had her emotions in check. It had been a really disappoint about his so called daughter, that she was too open with her feelings. A Hyuuga strive to be in perfect control, over others and over oneself, and at the same time observing and discerning everything around them. To give away too little, if anything, and perceive as much as one could. Such were the ways of Hyuuga.<p>

But at the moment, he could barely read his daughter. He could only detect some traces of impatience and…annoyances? It was curious indeed.

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><p>Hinata, contrary of popular believe, could read her father perfectly even before the time jump. It was why her old self was so depress about her family situation. She new what people were thinking about her all the time, and it wasn't pleasant. Now, she could see that her father was puzzled for her not so subtle changes in demeanour. He was trying to intimidate her with his icy glare and presence.<p>

"_Sorry pops, your poor imitation of an emotionless kabuki mask is nothing compare to THE Uchiha Madara or the Juubi. Nice try though."_

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><p>"<em>She indeed had progressed in her body language skills. Maybe the rumours are more than just that. But I doubt it. It seems that the Academy <em>_was useful for something. Now, let's see how she manages herself."_

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><p>"<em>I wonder, is it the perfect time to introduce Naruto-kun to the wonders of the explosive tag?"<em>

Across the Elemental Nations, future foes and allies alike felt a cold shiver through their spines in the most ominous of feelings. Deidara of Iwa will have an… interesting… conversation about… art… at some point in his artfull life.

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><p>The silent exchange last for other 5 minutes until Hiashi decided that enough of their time was wasted.<p>

"Hinata, your instructors had informed me that you had made some progress in your training. While much more is expected of you as the heir of the Hyuuga, you had done remarkable well in the last week."

I took all Hinata´s will power to keep her shock from her face. _"Holy crap! It is the first time that he congratulates me in something since I was six, let alone recognise my position as the heir ever since I lost that mach with Hanabi almost two years ago. Something isn't right."_ Unfortunately, Hinata´s lack of confidence in humanity was proven right with what happened next.

"Thanks, otou-sama" said in a calm collected voice without betraying her inner tensed turmoil.

"That being said, as the Heir of the Noble Clan of the Hyuuga your actions, or inactions, represent what Hyuuga is in front of the public. This is why a Hyuuga, especially you, had to choose carefully with what type of people you need to interact. Be aware, Hinata, that among your classmates there are some that are unworthy of your time and attention, so choose with who you are very carefully."

"_Freaking bastard! I knew it! He just subtlety suggested that I should ditch Naruto in __favor of his approval and the heir's position. You know what? Screw you! You and your pathetic Hyuuga dogma can rot in the ninth ring of hell, hopefully being assraped by the Kyuubi… with a cheese grader!"_

"I understand, otou-sama"

"Good. You can go now."

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><p>"<em>I need to speed my plans. For Naruto´s and mine's sake. Now, I just need to blow up something. Hanabi´s doll colle<em>_ction sounds tenting."_

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><p>But in Hinata´s mind, Naruto was the only person worthy of her attention and time. Hiashi was informed of this and decided that her daughter need some…intense…lessons so the message could be received by the girl.<p>

For the next two weeks, the juunken lessons in the family dojo become more brutal. Every day Naruto saw his dear friend covered in bruises and the anger inside him grew at alarming rate. But Hinata wanted this to happen; she didn't heal herself so Naruto noticed the damage that her so called family was inflicting upon her. She still remembered the first time she showed up really beaten up to their secret training sessions. It was full of unexpected surprises.

* * *

><p>(Flashback)<p>

"Hinata-chan, what happened to you?" Asked a concerned Naruto. It was the first time he had seen her so beaten and bruised, and he knew that this was not training accident.

"It is nothing, Naruto-kun" said the girl in a quiet subdued voice.

"The hell is nothing! Come here, let me see what I can do for you." Said Naruto, while channelling chakra into his hands. Soon a familiar warn green glow appeared.

"Naruto-kun? What are you doing?" said in shock Hinata, and it was not faked. Never it had cross her mind that Naruto was learning healing jutsus on his own.

"Taking care of the most important thing in my life." And with that he started to heal her. Admitly, he was to slow for a normal medic nin and need to focused really hard to channel the proper amount of chakra into the technique. Healing was an art of precision, pumping huge levels of chakra just didn't cut it.

"Naruto-kun. Where do you learned this?"

"Training. The public library has some interesting material on the subject. I know that I´m not too good, but one day I gonna be the best medic that ever walke this earth and I will never let anybody to hurt you."

(End of flashback)

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><p>After that day, Hinata agreed to teach her whiskered friend all what she new about medicine, ninja and normal wise, which Naruto put to good use during their training and after Hinata´s family was done with her.<p>

But that was not enough. Hinata knew that Naruto´s anger was maturing to an incredible hate toward others, especially the Hyuuga. It just needed a little push in the right direction. Fortunately for the girl, the opportunity that she was looking for was closer than she thought.

October 10th, Naruto´s birthday, was a three days away.

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><p>Naruto was in a bad mood. It had been a couple of days since he had seen Hinata-chan. He KNEW that her family was trying to keeping her away from him. The mere thought of what those monsters were doing to his friend made his blood boil.<p>

"_I'm so tired of crying. Of grieving again and again",_ he thought to himself. _"I just needed to know that you are all right, Hinata-chan. But you won't tell me. You won't show me. So… I will just have to make sure that you're all right. I won't be made to stand by and watch something happen to you. Never again"_ This was his new nindo, his reason to become the greatest medic nin in history, to ensure that she, the constant light in his miserable life, was safe.

It was getting dark, and in the lesser known alleys were the best route to avoid the mobs during the Kyuubi Festival. But luck was not on his side.

As soon as he turned the corner, strong wires came out of nowhere and wrapped around his legs and has, letting him hang as a human size _piñata_. Out of the blue, a couple of ninjas and a full fledged mob appeared in a stupor of alcohol and bloodlust, being the later directed to the blond.

"_Genjutu, and high level ones! That's how they eluded my senses. One of those bastards had to be an elite jounin at least."_

With their usual cries of "KILL THE KYUUBI", "END THE DEMON´S LIFE", "SWEET REVENGE" and other pleasantries, the mob attacked.

If it had been another time, Naruto will just hang on and try not to die, while crying and wondering in confusion about why the villagers hate him so much. This was not one of those times. After spending almost three days without the moral support that her friend's presence provided, the constant glaring and mistreat of said villagers, fatigue, and the building anger product of seeing Hinata-chan beaten so badly for almost two weeks, Naruto was ready to cut some loose.

With a flawless, soundless and sealless substitution technique, Naruto changed position with one of the attendants. Said victim was a villager and lacked the blond training and endurance. The poor bastard die minutes later thanks of a heart attack produced by a kunai buried in his chest.

Naruto didn't wasted time. Out of nowhere, the blond start blessing the mob with rain. A kunai rain, that is. Taking a kunai in each hand, Uzumaki Naruto started slashing in chunks his aggressors. The feeling of blood and gore through his hand, the intoxicating power that he was feeling, relinquishing in the pains of others and their fears, the adrenaline in his vein; all this made something in the blond finally snap.

Unknown to the witnesses of such grotesque _play_, Hyuuga Hinata was looking from above a tree, hidden, and shivering in ecstasy as the girl was enjoying looking how her lovely Naruto unleashed a requiem of pain and horror to the sinners that dare to touch him. For Hinata, the carnage was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Her arousal was increasing each second too.

In true, under a _henge_, Hinata was the one that informed the searching mob where to find Naruto. It pained her that she had to help the idiots in helping hurt her love, but she new it was necessary for the good of the blond. Now that the deed was done, she would exact revenge on the fool sinners.

Jumping from the tree, she landed exactly in front of the elite jounin that was trying to sneak on Naruto´s back. He would have succeed if wasn't for his drunken stupor. The poor bastard met a horrible end.

"How you dare to touch him? Die!" yelled Hinata while hitting the man in the chest with a chakra charged palm. The juunken was a fighting style that used minimum effort, both physical and chakra wise. Hinata´s strike was not minimum on both accounts. The hit liquefied the man's heart and lungs, and then forced the new _organ's shake_ out the body through the back of the elite jounin, taking out a section of his spine. But Hinata didn't stop there, she start jabbing everybody around her with her deathly _touch _making them die in slow manner, some with heart attacks, others drown in their own blood.

Naruto, who turned in time to see the flashy entrance of her friend, was stunned for a couple of seconds, but start purging the villagers again. After minutes, both teens were sweating and panting while surrounded but the new graveyard. With a glance, Naruto send a message to her friend, something that they started doing unconsciously, which Hinata received with a nod. Both of them started to run and didn't stop until they were in Naruto´s apartment. It was fifteen minutes later that the ANBU patrol found the gorgy mess.

* * *

><p>After a couple of minutes of deep breathing, the adrenaline of their bodies receded, and now they acknowledged their actions.<p>

"Hinata-kun, what I have done? I had become a monster. I had slaughter a lot of people…and I enjoy it." Said a panicked, emo like, Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, do you trust me?" the blond nodded furiously. "I also killed to defend you, do that made me a monster to you?" with the same vigour the teen shook his head. "Then, you are as much a monster as I am. If anything, they are the monsters that try to hurt you without reason. They are the ones that need to die. My family and the villagers, Naruto-kun, they had wronged us. They had tormented us. They had heaved in our pain and suffering. They need to paid, Naruto-kun. They need to burn until their ashes are scattered by the wind."

With each one of her words, Naruto´s demeanour changed. He accepted everything she had done for him so far, why to started doubting her now? She had become his rock, his only piece of sanity that he had left, aside from the Ichiraku´s. Not even the Hokage did something to alleviate his pain. But Hinata had rescued him.

Also Naruto could not forget the sensations that he felt while unleashing his bottled feelings on others. Never in his life had he felt so alive, so complete. Something that was only surpassed by his feelings toward the girl in front on him. He had seen her in a new light tonight. As his friend, his saviour, his angel, his goddess, his all.

Slowly, Naruto pulled Hinata closer to him, and kissed her as passionally as an eleven year old could. Hinata didn't resist, and started to kiss him back.

Any of them noticed the strange opaque glow surrounded them. Then, pain like no other, cursed through them, making them to past out. They never left each other's hand. Soon, the dark glow became a mass of pure darkness that launched at them like a leech. It wrapped them totally and twisted in awkward and impossible ways. If anybody had been near, they could had feel what only could be described as an wavelength of madness and bloodlust, a chilling ominous feeling of pure terror.

That day, humanity's ultimate nightmare was unleashed: the _Abyss Walkers_ were born.

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..

..

And there it is. Hopefully, the quality of this chapter was better than the previous ones.

I gonna wait a couple of days so i can go back an fixed the errors that had been pointed out by the kind readers. Hopefully after the process the end result will be something to behold^^


	6. Poking the sleeping Dragon

**AN: **Hallo Fellas! I'm back after taking my sweet time with this chapter. We will have some action in it; hopefully the wait was worth of it. I want to thank all of you that had take your time to review your opinions about this fic. I want to thank specially **Kyuubi123** for his criticism and help with some ideas and **Nevix** who help with some plot points. Thanks to his analysis some ideas in this chapter and later in the story had been inspired by his suggestions. Thanks man, you are awesome.

Now, enjoy the show.

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><p><strong>Chapter 6: <strong>**Poking the sleeping Dragon.**

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><p><em>"How long the night seems to one kept awake by pain."<em> - Bernard Joseph Saurin, from **Blanche et Guiscard**.

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><p><em>Sakura couldn't believe that she got separated from her parents during the festival. She thought that she <em>_had seen Sasuke but lost the sight of him almost immediately. Trying to finding him she lost track of her parents. Now, after a couple of hours, it was better to go home. She really wasn't paying attention to her surroundings so it was not a surprise that she felt to the floor behind a bush. When she tried to stand up something horrible caught her attention: the idiot of Naruto was being beating up by a group of angry drunken villagers and what looked like some ninjas. It was sickening. It didn't matter if the blond was annoying with his constant quest of asking her to go out with him, though she started to notice that he seemed to stop doing it in favour to hang out with the weirdo Hyuuga Hinata, but this wasn't something you do to any child._

_Then the unthinkable came to past. Naruto got free and started a pure evil onslaught on his attackers. Hinata came out of nowhere and joined him in the massacre. I was something that you could only be read in the old war tales or seen in horror movies. Sakura was paralyzed, she couldn't moved and she even didn't noticed the urine puddle staining her yukata._

_Even after both Naruto and Hinata had been gone for a while, and the ANBU patrol found her ant taking her to custody in the Hokage Tower, Sakura was totally paralyzed in shock. It was when the Hokage himself came to visit her that she reacted: she just scream in hysterical fashion before collapsing._

Sakura woke up in the middle of the night, sweating and totally tensed. It had been months since she witnessed something that shouldn't been possible. That was in October, and now, in April, she still had nightmares about that night. Sometimes they change into something more brutal where Naruto and Hinata spot her and start torturing her, and even raping her in some very kinky and very painful ways.

The worst part was that the Hokage ordered her into silence, it was an A class secret and only authorised personal could be informed. Sadly, her parents or Ino were not in this category. Thinking about Ino made that a bittersweet smile appeared on her face. Yamanaka Inoichi, Ino´s father, took her case and started to help her and heal her psyche of the trauma endured. Without his help, Sakura was sure that she would have quitted in being a kunoichi.

Those were long and emotionally harmful weeks, but in the process, Inoichi came to know Sakura like any other. It was in those therapy sessions that the old Yamanaka learnt what had happened with Sakura´s friendship with her daughter. He was not angry, but he was clearly disappointed in her. And he made sure that Sakura knew that. She had thrown away something beautiful between the two of them in favour of a boy that did not pay attention to her at all. But also, she had neglected her training in favour of fuming over said boy, increasing her low self esteem about her skills and getting worse in her detrimental attitude toward others and developing fiery temper.

Sakura, being shown her true self in a mirror, was totally depressed. But it was necessary. After one of those sessions, she tracked down Ino and engaged her in a long emotional conversation about them. Ino had some things to said too, but in the ended forgiving her. Their renew friendship was not as it had been in the past but it was getting there, if slowly.

Still, Sakura´s obsession with Sasuke was as strong as ever. Inoichi tried everything he could think of about it because he new that it was not healthy to anybody to be so sickly obsessed with another person. But it was for nothing. So he did the second best thing, he manipulated Sakura with her own obsession in taking her ninja career seriously. At least, that will help her to survive.

Sakura remembered really well his advice about her training and approach with Sasuke.

"_Sakura, you may not know this, but __the Uchihas were known to choose strong wives so they could have strong children in they choose to marry outside the clan. Instead of continuously asking him out for dates, find your strengths and secure them and try to compensate your weaknesses. After your think you had go far enough them try to invite him to train, as friend first. In time, he would see your strength and would be more open about going out with you in a date. Do you understand?"_

"_I think so." Said Sakura, quietly. She was still in the last stages of depression, though started recovering already by that point. But Sakura had started looking Inoichi as wise friend that will always advise her correctly with her well being in mind so she was listening really carefully his instructions._

"_Also, I will make an official order for you against diets. Those are slowly killing you."_

"_But if I'm fat, Sasuke would never want to be with me!" exclaimed horrified the pinknette. _

"_True. But if you train REALLY HARD you will never be fat, but stronger than you are now." Replied, calmly, Inoichi._

"_I… hadn't though about it like that" responded the girl really embarrassed._

After that Sakura really took her training seriously. Since all the instructors said that her main fort was her chakra control, she asked Iruka about extra help. The chuunin just looked at her in a really odd way mentioning something about talented students finally taking things seriously. He gave her a copied scroll with two chakra exercises outside the academy ones: tree and water walking. She mastered them almost at her first try, but got tired as fast. This revealed a mayor flaw of hers. Her physical deficiency.

It took a while and several trips to the shinobi library, but she put together a routine to help her improve her stamina and endurance. She new that she was too far behind most of her classmates, but the desired to be next to Sasuke pushed her beyond her limits in those initial days when her body suffered painfully the new workaholic.

Along the way, Sakura also managed to learn low level genjutsus, which she discovered that she had talent for. But in true, Sasuke was not the only motivation. Her fears about her enigmatic classmates and their erratic behaviour after _the incident_ were increasing every day. Sometimes she feared that they were watching her, ready to devour her body and soul for all eternity. She knew that she was being silly, and that both of them were just defending themselves at the time, but that didn't change the fact that they, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto, scare the crap out of her.

Shaking her head, the Haruno girl prepared herself for the day. After she was bathed and rested after her morning workout, she took a yellow book that contained what had become her fascination and niche.

The title read: **Sealing the Will: A beginner's introduction to the Fuinjutsu Arts.**

* * *

><p>Uzumaki Naruto was sitting alone in his usual spot at Ichiraku´s Ramen stand. While enjoying his seventh bowl of miso ramen, the blond was deep thinking about how everything had change that year. He was really happy at the beginning. He made a friend and became inseparable with her. They train together and had fun together, that said girl also loved ramen as much as him was bonus in his mind.<p>

But everything changed in his birthday.

After that first kiss with Hinata they were overwhelmed with intense pain and agony. It was something that he didn't enjoy remembering. But all that was child's play compared to what happened next.

(Flashback)

He was floating in a pitch black void of darkness. The only thing he could feel was a smaller, softer hand that he instinctively recognized as Hinata´s. She wasn't there with him, but he KNEW that she was there, next to him, as always she had been after their first meeting. That thought instantly calmed him, as he was safer, secured beneath an angel wings warm hug.

Then, he opened his eyes.

"**At last you had joint us, Uzumaki Naruto"** said a feral, powerful voice from the HUGE bars that stood behind a relieved Hinata, smiling to him all the way.

(End of flashback)

And then, there was the truth. It was more painful, darker, and more evil than the worst of lies. If it hadn't been for Hinata´s presence, Naruto was sure that he would have succumbed to the madness that had pooled in his heart. Literally.

But that day, the last hope of Naruto to be accepted in his home, to be loved, to be respected die for all eternity. Some interesting facts revealed during that experience were mind-blowing shockers:

The Kyuubi no Kitsune wasn't kill, just sealed in his belly by his personal hero, that ended being his father.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was the Kyuubi no Vixen.

His mother was the last container, the second one for the Kyuubi, and died protecting his father instead of staying at the sidelines for a full recovery and safety, instead of staying alive for him.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was a chic. A really hot, kinky naked woman.

His father had chosen the villagers instead of him, his son. The same villagers became his personal tormentors.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune was a girl.

The old man didn't really love him. The old man would have told him the truth of his birthright, never leaving the legacy of their former leader walk through hell with a smile in his face. The old man just one him to be a weapon for the safety of the village.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the tailed beast, was female.

Did I mentioned that the Kyuubi no Kitsune was a girl?

But that was just the beginning. Kyuubi offered them a deal. Hinata was totally cautious against it, being a fox demon and all that it entailed, but they her preposition anyways. In exchange of her full power, we would tear the seal holding her, realising her so she could return to _Makai_. The vixen even swore on her nine tails that she was going to be Mrs. Honesty in the whole deal. Hinata explained to him that foxes in general, and demon foxes in particular, were accomplished liars and tricksters, they were cursed by the Kamis above so the couldn't break any promise or oath that they give away. That's why the foxes were so good in avoiding possible situation were they had to promise into doing something, or manipulate all elements in their favour to prevent such nefarious event.

The offer was that the fox will give Naruto four tails of her power, to Hinata other four and she would stay with one tail. After being questioned about her reasons, she explained that the yoki regenerate at slow pace in the outside world without physical body. If they accept the deal, she, the Kyuubi, will return eventually… in a couple of centuries at least. Both Hinata and Naruto would also get full nine tails worth of power, a power that grew at logarithmical rate, when they turn seventeen. After that, they would regenerate their power as fast as they use it. As a good faith bonus, the vixen also gave them both high speed regenerating powers. Hinata´s reached Naruto´s level as she remembered it before the time jump while Naruto´s skyrocketed to insane impossible levels.

But the last piece of the deal was that Kyuubi made them "soulmates". Later they would find what that term meant and both agreed that it was the better part of the deal.

Hinata voiced her opinion about accepting it. Now, any sane person, heck, any sane ninja would have been suspicious of the whole thing… but Naruto wasn't sane anymore, and he had reached a point where _anything that Hinata says, it goes_.

Other things were explained to them, things that eventually would have a mayor play in the future.

They accepted and, to Naruto´s eternal disappointment, it was rather anti climatic. A couple of hours and random flashlights later, and the Kyuubi was no more.

The next day both were summoned by the Hokage for questioning. No surprises there. In the reunion, Naruto "confessed" a meeting with the Kyuubi after "passing out" thank for his injures and the shock of his first kill. Hinata explained something similar. The old Hokage bought the whole history, making Naruto wander if the Hokage was that senile or he and Hinata were freaking good actors. Naruto, in an emo rehearsed moment, confront the old leader about why him, what about his parents, and the like. Sarutobi Hiruzen of course told them some things in such masterful way that, if Naruto and Hinata hadn't known the real truth, they would have believed him. Even then, it was freaking convincing. Another skill that they had to master into their advantage.

After some mayor BS of her own about her family, Hinata "convinced" a really "resilient" Naruto and the Hokage to stage a "rift" between the two teens so they could take off their backs the Hyuuga, until graduation when Hinata would be part of the Hokage´s jurisdiction and, hopefully, part of Naruto´s genin team. Both agreed.

The next week, they officially ended their friendship in a huge friend quarrel in the academy. Naruto wasn't too thrilled by their new separation, even if they sneaked random moments of joint training, but their newly discovered ability to communicate each other telepathically, no matter the distance, was helping them sync their plans in the most efficient of ways. That, and now they could talk whenever they wanted with no one as the wiser.

Now, the next stage of their plan was about to start really, really soon.

* * *

><p><em>There was a time whe<em>_n a wise man walk upon earth. He was the stronger warrior but also, he was the herald of peace. The wise man had two sons and one daughter. Before he died, the eldest of his sons received the knowledge of the body and the understanding of love as the stronger source of power. With this knowledge, the eldest depart in a journey around the lands, seeking further understanding about the teachings of his wise father. The youngest of the sons acquired a great vision and the thirst for power in order to preserve the peace that his father had worked so hard to establish and maintain. With these, he started to train so one day he could surpass his wise father and continue his work._

_But the only__ daughter, left alone by her brothers, was sad because her beloved father's life was approaching its end. Seeing her sadness, the wise father called the mighty Dragon from heaven so he could help his lovely daughter. The Dragon and the Wise Man gave her the power of the soul as the source of all strength. Before he died, the daughter received a last advice from her father and the Dragon: __**"Remember, daughter of mine, that your true power comes from the soul. Just when you find the balance, to be merciful as a Deva and impart judgment as an Akuma, you will obtain the ultimate strength."**_

_And with that parting advice the daughter started her mission to find the ultimate balance. Like this, the Hyuuga Clan was born._

Hinata pulled down her mother scroll on her desk. She had read it dozens of times in the past, in both timelines, and it always fascinated her. It was like something on the scrolls that her mother had left her was calling her. That feeling had always been there, and until after her "separation" from her Naruto, a feeling that she didn't understood fully. But after that, even if it was her plan, she started to feel a burning freezing fury and rage toward her "family", She hated them, she wanted to destroy them, to extinguish their existence. But she couldn't. She and Naruto had plans, and to her eternal dismay and self-loathing, they were a necessary component in those plans. But that didn't stop her from harming what they valued the most: their pride. And now, she would have her revenge with her new found knowledge. The legacy of her late mother.

Yeah, the paled eyed dark princess would enjoy the despair of the Hyuuga when the cruel cold truth comes out to play.

Preparing her stuff, the indigo haired kunoichi went to the academy. The finals would be next week and today they had a taijutsu evaluation.

* * *

><p>"When I call your name randomly from this box, I want that those that are called come to the centre and prepare to fight. This is a taijutsu evaluation before the final one next week, so, you are only allowed to use taijutsu and taijutsu related techniques. You also can use kunai and shuriken as a support tool. The fight stops when one of you is unconscious or when I say so. You ARE NOT allowed to kill. Did I make myself clear?"<p>

"Hai, Iruka-sensei!"

"Good. Now, the first match is… Yamanaka Ino and…Ayama Ika... Ready?... HAJIME!"

The fight was short and vicious. "_It seems that Ino had been training lately"_ thought Hinata watching everything with a bored yet stern façade. This stroke the Hyuuga as odd because, in the last timeline, Ino wasn't that good at this point in time.

The time went on and one by one it was clear who was going to become genin and who would not.

Then the unthinkable happened.

"Next fight… Haruno Sakura and… Uchiha Sasuke."

And then there was silence.

Sakura just paled like a ghost while Ino was at her side trying to encourage the panicking fangirl. Slowly, Sakura stood up and walk to the centre of the school training yard. Sasuke, in the other hand, was walking with a sneer on his face with his usual "I'm better than thee" arrogance.

Hinata would enjoy this fully.

They stood in front of each other. One of them totally sure of his success, and, the other, cursing her karma.

"Surrender Sakura. You cannot win. I know it, you know it and soon, they will know it if they don't yet." Said the Uchiha as he was stating a fact.

Sakura was starting to deep breath in panic, cold sweat falling in cascade from her huge forehead.

"DON´T LISTEN TO HIM, SAKURA. YOU HAD GOT STRONGER, YOU CAN KICK HIS ASS. SHOW HIM OF WHAT IS MADE THAT HARD FOREHEAD OF YOURS!" yelled Ino, morally supporting her friend.

It was so cliché that it worked. Sakura, hearing her loud blonde friend could just smile at her early stupidity. Calming her self, the pinknette took out two kunais, one in each had, and assumed a fighting stance.

"It seems that you had decided to challenged the Fates. It will be for naught. You will be crushed under the might of the Uchiha."

This saddened Sakura, but she stood firm on her position. "Hey Sasuke, if I win, would you train with me… to get stronger." Proposed the girl.

"As if you could defeat me. An even if you could, as impossible as it sounds, I would never lower myself to be with you, as a training partner, as boyfriend or anything else."

THAT was the wrong thing to say as one Uchiha Sasuke, and his peers, would learn in a few moments. For a lack of better word, Haruno Sakura snapped.

"That's it! If you can respect me as woman then I am going to make you respect me as ninja." And with that both students started to dance. A deathly, fast dance.

Sasuke, being the faster and stronger of the two, at least in his mind, went for a direct approach. It was a mistake.

As soon Sasuke was near enough he launched an impressively fast upper kick with his left leg. Sakura, in an incredible feast of speed, reflexes and flexibility, brought her own right leg against his inner tight, somehow wrapped her leg around his by the middle, pulled him down easily thanks to his balance being off, then hit him in the stomach with her other knee, spun around herself while standing up in human size imitation of a screw coming out, took both his legs in the ground with both her feet and made a back flip landing on her open hands while propelling Sasuke trough the air toward the next conveniently placed tree. Her acrobatic achievement done, Sakura twisted herself with a slight jump in the air, back on her feet and in a fighting stance again with her kunais at hand.

EVERYBODY was gobsmacked, jaws touching the floor include. The astonishment of what they had just seen wasn't totally registered in their young minds. Iruka was doing a better job in hiding his awe expression but not by much.

"_What the heck just happen?"_ mentally shouted Hinata to Naruto through their mental link. The blond just gave her a mental nod while playing his part of utterly surprised as everybody else. In truth, it was not a complete façade, he was genuinely impressed. As everybody else in the yard.

Sakura by her part was panting. If was just not for physical fatigue, but mental exhaustion as well. _"Holy crap! I can't believe I did it. Is not complete yet, but that combo was even more impressive of how I imagined it. But Sasuke-kun will never go out with me now. Why I got so mad at? I messed up really bad this time."_ Was whining the pinknette on her head; sadly this distracted her for too much time and thus, she didn't see Sasuke fist coming from her left and hit her in the stomach.

"You bitch! How dare you to touch me? You will pay." Said an enraged Sasuke while knocking the air out of the kunoichi. In truth, the Uchiha was more surprised than wounded. Sakura counter attack had caught him off guarded, and, before he could react, he found himself flying against a hard unfriendly trunk. Sasuke knew that, if the bitch had been stronger, her hits would have at least broke leg and leave VERY sore ribs. He "softened" his landing making a last minute flip in the air and using a bit of chakra coating around his body, a trick that Itachi had taught him a long ago, despite that he hadn't perfect it yet. It was the only thing that stopped an unwanted trip to the hospital.

Not wanting to give Sakura another opportunity to harm him further, Sasuke approached the panting girl with a round middle kick that hit her left side. She yelled in pain, but before landing roughly, Sakura twisted her body once more launching a kunai to Sasuke who evaded it. That's when the young Uchiha noticed a small detail. The kunai had a thin, almost invisible, ninja wire in its handle. Sakura smirked.

Waving her hand, Sakura made that the kunai wrapped around Sasuke left arm. In truth, she was aiming to his entire body but he probed his worth as the top student in their class avoiding her trap. Even then, what she had planned could still work. Pulling the string as she wanted to bring him toward her reach Sakura prepared her other combo that she had stored for the ocassion.

Sasuke didn't have any of it. Instead, he pulled her toward him making her to lose her balance. Just when the Uchiha was about to punch her in the face, Sakura, with another feast of flexibility, bent herself over her stomach landing on her hands once again, then started to twist like a human tornado with her legs extended. Sasuke received a nice amount of kicks in his face, but that just pissed him more. Launching a fast combo of punches, the Uchiha forced Sakura to stop, which she did jumping from her hands using the rotation inertia that she gained while launching her other kunai, which also had wire around the handle, wrapping it around his torso.

Sasuke was waiting for this.

Catching the spinning girl, Sasuke grabbed both her shoulders and smacked her on the ground with all his, and hers, weight, knocking out the pinknette in the process. But the arrogant Uchiha was furious. He didn't stop there. No, instead, he started kicking and punching all his worth the pink haired bitch for her insolence.

It took Iruka, Ino, and, surprisingly, Shikamaru to stop him before he made further damage to their unconscious classmate. Iruka had to chop the back of his neck to knock him out.

After everything calmed down, and both Sakura and Sasuke were sent to the academy doctor, Iruka proceed to continue the evaluation, still shaken about what he had seen and the growth of both Sasuke and Sakura, even if he was pissed with the Uchiha at the moment and had his mind made about speaking to the Hokage about his beheavior.

"Next match… Hyuuga Hinata and… Tsuke Ami"

Hinata, in her usually quiet way, stood up and positioned herself in the centre of the arena while Ami did the same.

"_I don't remember much about Ami except that she was one of the usual bullies and had repeat this course for the second time. Lets just put a show and giving her a false hope of winning then I will "miraculously" gain the upper hand and finish her…" _thought Hinata while preparing herself to win this without attract to much attention.

"Hey eye freak, just surrender like you always do since the start of the academy. You are not cut for this. Even your blond friend ditched you after he noticed the failure weirdo that you are. You know what? After I humiliate you I gonna win the blonds attention and had some "fun" with him" said the boastful Ami. She didn't notice the strange dark aura around the Hyuuga girl or acknowledged the fact the she was digging her grave.

"_That was the wrong thing to say." _Thought Naruto, while sending calming feelings to Hinata through their link, but it was too late.

It was a common knowledge that, after Hinata´s and Naruto´s public separation, you didn't mention a thing about it when either of them was around. The last one was Kiba trying to win Hinata over. The poor bastard ended in the hospital for a couple of days after a bunch of cats mysteriously appeared from nowhere in his room. The "demon cat" Tora was included in the mess. It took half of the Inuzuka compound to restore the disaster that the felines created. Suffice to say that Tora manage to kill four trained ninja dogs before escaping the canines domain.

Nobody could pin the accident to the main suspects, that, no so surprising, was Naruto and, raising some eyebrows, Hinata.

"… _that bitch is going down. HARD."_ Thought and enraged Hinata..

In a blink of an eye, Hinata was in front of Ami whom, caught off guarded, couldn't react on time. The poor girl just felt three hits in her stomach before her world turned black.

The match ended the blink of an eye… literally. If Iruka hadn't known better, he would had swear tate Hinata knew the _Hiarishin_.

"_Naruto-kun? Tonight is the night."_ Said Hinata through their link.

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yeah. Tonight, the Hyuuga will fall."_

.

.

.

.

AND CUT!

Men, I feel so evil cutting the chapter there. Am I a really bad boy?...Nah!

I hope you liked this chapter. The next one is going to be one really interesting and answer some question that this chapter may had raised.

For those that are wondering, Sakura fighting style was picked from Noriko´s insane battle moves in the ps3 game "Heavenly Sword". Check the videos and then tell me that they are not freaking awesome.

Peace out fellas! R&R.


	7. Old age and treachery

**AN: **Nas! Sorry for the wait… I got lost in the road of life… kind of. The first part was kind of difficult to come with, but I manage. I still believed that it could be better, but after the fourth edition I leaved like that. Again, I want to thank all of you that had added this story to your favourite/alert lists. Especially, I want to thank **Nevix, **a lot of his suggestion helped me with the Danzo part, and is helping me with another future plot point that is going to be used in this story. Thank you man!

Now, enjoy the show^^

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Old age and treachery…<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"Learn to recognize when speed is not important. Race when being first is important; move at your own pace at all other times. It is not necessary to always strike the first blow, to provide the first solution, or to reach a goal before anyone else does. In fact, it is sometimes vital to strike the last blow, to give the final answer, or to arrive after everyone else."<em> - Unknown

* * *

><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen had walked a path that not many people survived. Being a ninja meant that one life span was rather short, being the average age 35 to 40 years. He had at leas double of that. And not just he, his teammates, his students and Danzo were the only ones in all Konoha to surpass the 50 year mark. He had survived the 3 Great Ninja Wards and with that came a lot of invaluable experience that could not be matched. He had the sure knowledge that he could encounter and win his way out with minimum damage, not because arrogance or superiority complex but because his lifelong experience gained through hardship and adversity.<p>

His gut and instincts were always honed and ready to save his life once again, always guiding him through dangers and deception. And at the moment they were telling him that something was really wrong. Two hours ago, Hyuuga Hiashi had sent him a message telling him that he was attending a large Hyuuga gathering about internal affairs and an upgrade of their compounds security. If anything happened that require his attention as member of the council, them he named Nara Shikaku as is proxy. It was a strange decision, not usually done, but not out of place either. The thing about it was that Hiashi just did something like this once, when his wife gave birth to his eldest child, Hinata. Not even the Kyuubi attack or the "Uchiha incident" had made the man to be out of reach.

"Rei, tell me what do you think of all this." Said the old Hokage without facing his guest. _Yuurei,_ or The Ghost, was a especial ninja. "Ghost" was a personal shinobi of the Hokage, and respond only to him. His main and only mission was to go through the shinobi ranks and indentified "Internal Threats". The Yondaime put him out of commission when he was instated in his post, but the Sandaime pull it into service again after the affairs with the Uchiha. It was thanks to it that the Hokage was aware of many spies in the village. Nobody knew exactly how many small rebellions had been stopped ever since The Ghost started to walk among them either. It was testament of its skill that showed it its results. Because of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen trusted its opinion in high regard.

"I could not penetrate their new defences, which confirms the upgrade that was mentioned. But nobody had step in or out of the compounds ever since Hyuuga Hinata returned from her afternoon classes. It seems unlikely, but it can be related to her surprising win on the taijutsu examination." Said Yuurei. Its voice could not be identified was male or female. Nobody knew if it was a girl or a boy, or how old it was, thus the reason why it was called "IT".

"I see. What do you think about the Hyuuga girl? Does she post any threat?"

"At the moment is difficult to say. She is a really good actor. After her "drift" with Uzumaki Naruto, she had stayed in character in the public's eye. But it was confirmed that her… personality changes…started almost 9 months ago, the same day that the Barrier Squad registered the abnormality on the wards."

Those made Hiruzen think about that particular accident from the last September. The Barrier Squad reported that a little black dot appeared for almost 23 seconds on their scans before disappearing completely. They didn't know what it was or what it meant, since it was not contemplated in the different energies levels spectrum before.

It may have been registered as a malfunctioning on their part if it had not been that they reported a second sighting in the message: _"Two dots appeared."_ It was simple but Hiruzen immediately knew what it meant. The abnormality showed it self again in a troubling day: October 10, the day that Naruto and Hinata were forced to kill in self-defence and the day that both of them learnt the truth about Naruto´s status as a jinchuuriki.

Thinking about the blond made the old Hokage sigh. The old Sarutobi was one of the few people in a whole village of ninjas that didn't hate the boy for his burden, at least not entirely. As a ninja being renowned as "The God Shinobi" and "The Professor", he understood the Sealing Arts more than the usual amateurs. He was not in the same league as his perverted (and a genius at that, if he say so himself) Jiraiya, or the late Yondaime, but he was almost there. As such, he knew the difference between a jinchuuriki and the bijuu they jail. That being said, Sarutobi was human. Until this day, he didn't know what had happened during Kushina´s giving birth to Naruto, but something when wrong and in the process his beloved wife was killed. A tiny little part inside him felt an immeasurable hatred toward the nine-tailed fox, and, in some extreme situations (like when he got drunk during his wife's death anniversary and started to contemplate killing Naruto for good, despite that the kid was only 4 years old at the time. He even justified himself thinking that death would spare the kid a long suffering life) and transferred some of that hatred to the kid. But Sarutobi kept himself in check all the time, making sure that his stray thoughts die with him. One of the reasons that the old leader didn't adopted the kid from the start. It was better be safe than sorry.

Sarutobi knew that his age was against him. He still was a feared Shinobi, and with good reason, and he knew that the only reason why other villages didn't attacked Konoha during the aftermath of the Kyuubi Disaster or the Uchiha Massacre was because of him. He needed to start looking for a replacement, and soon. Jiraiya was an option, though hi will need some convincing. The other option was his other stray student, Senju Tsunade, that if they could find her. At the moment, the only other two choices that were availed in the village were Hatake Kakashi and, God forgive him, Maito Gai. Just thinking about the face of the green spandex jounin on the Hokage Monument brought horror shivers through his spine.

"Something else to be inform?"

"Hai! It was by coincidence, but during the Hyuuga Hinata surveillance it was noticed that a veteran genin, Yakushi Kabuto, had been spying the genin hopefuls of this year, especially on Uchiha Sasuke. His stealth skills are beyond his current rank. During further investigation, it was discovered that said genin used the information that he collects in something he calls _Ninja Info Cards_ where he seals the information in similar fashion that the Decoding Unit does. Is still unknown what he does with the information but it is said that he capitalize on this during the chuunins exams, which he had taken 6 times already."

Sandaime knew that Yuurei didn't mention Kabuto casually. Yuurei suspected something about the genin, something afoot, and he trusted those instincts. In the end "_Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill."_

"For now, let's leave Hinata and Naruto as secondary mission, but if something happens with those two, tell me. I am going to change my plans just in case about them. For now, pay close attention on Yakushi and use your judgement in the matter. Inform me of anything else that you discover that is of importance."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

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><p>"Fu, what's the matter?" asked the quietly Himura Danzo, the "Darkness of the Shinobi".<p>

"Danzo-sama, our Hyuuga agent, Hyuuga Hibana, informed that she was called to the Hyuuga compounds to an emergency meeting. It seems that all the Hyuuga in the village had been called too."

Danzo closed his visible eye, something that he did while deep thinking, after listening one of his most trusted Root agents. Contrary to popular believe, Danzo did not brainwashed his underground faction. He didn't need brainless tools that needed to be said all what they have to do. No, what Danzo needed where capable ninjas that could think and adapted to the best of results, no matter the methods. True, he conditioned to eliminate their emotions as much as he could, they didn't interfere with their decisions and their duty, and to increase their pain and torture resistance. He knew that he had succeed, despite that not many survived the training that he provided, because his Root was a lot better that the standard ANBU or any equivalent that the other villages had.

"What measures had been taken?"

"Hibana had implied all the security protocol, just in case, and will inform us as soon the opportunity arises."

"Good. Tell Shen that use his bugs to keep tads of the Hyuuga District and as closed as he can of the Hyuuga Compounds."

"Is already done, Danzo-sama. Both him and Torune had been trying to get in, but it seems that the Hyuuga had upgraded their defences and are know too difficult to penetrate without arising the alarm."

THAT troubled Danzo. He didn't what another Uchiha event on his hand, the Leaf had suffered enough from it. But the second thing was that he didn't like to be kept in the dark. Information was, along side deception, the most powerful tool a ninja could have. Something wasn't right.

"Then tell Torune and Shen to desist, we can risk to be discover. When Hibana returns, keep a check on her and use the AP-N on her."

"Hai, Danzo-sama!"

The AP-N or the "after long term infiltration mission protocol" was used regularly on ninjas that had return from long missions, especially infiltration ones, to counter act what was commonly known was "become native". It was not frequent that it happens, but it was regularly implemented just in case.

Danzo had designed the program himself after the "Keiji Saito Epiphany". Years ago, an unnamed ninja was selected to infiltrate Iwa for a whole year to get information about what was happening. After six month past the deadline, it was sent a party to retrieve the agent. It was a success, sadly.

Somehow, the ninja had convinced himself that his was a Iwa ninja called Keiji Saito, his alias, and that he had been captured by Iwa eternal enemies. The result was something that nobody expected. Keiji escaped from the facilities where he was detained and committed suicide blowing himself, and half of the ANBU Quarters, with explosive notes. They were some injured but not causalities.

But the incident brought home a problem that hadn't been faced before. And like that, the AP-N was born.

Danzo took this opportunity to, first, gain support from the civilian council and some Clan Heads and, second, to twist the process in a more...aggressive…version for his Root agents and captured enemies. When used in a certain way, Danzo discovered that his version of the AP-N could do de opposite on enemies, that is "convert" ninjas of other villages into his services. It had a 57% of success because it depended a lot on the individual, but experience had taught him a lot. At the moment, he had at least one Shinobi from every mayor village and some of the minor ones. This is one of the reasons his spy network was more successful than any other.

Danzo was not a saint, he wasn't a hero, he was vigilante, he was a patriot, and he was a Shinobi. A true Shinobi works in the dark. They do not seek glory or recognition. They do not seek their own desires or ideals. They are servants; they do whatever needs to be done in the service of their masters, in this case the Hokage who in turn serve the Daimyo. If one wanted glory or honour they should be samurai, but samurai were corrupted, even if they started like honourable men, they lost their way most time than not. He knew; there had been a lot of occasions where his agents had to resolve revolutions caused by the people oppressed by "one a time _honourable_ samurais and warriors". What a joke. A Shinobi work through deception, in the shadows.

They lie, they cheat, they killed, they even rape sometimes so the majority of the people don't have to face the ugliest side of humanity. Danzo knew that he was a monster; he had done too many things to say otherwise. But if the villager kids were spare of the fate of being a Shinobi, he would die with a smile on his face.

Because such was the live of the shinobi. And nobody would know about it.

* * *

><p>Umino Iruka was thinking about his students, like he always did. More specifically, he was thinking on Haruno Sakura.<p>

He admitted that, despite her potential, at first the girl didn't had the mentality to be a true kunoichi. Them something happened, because overnight she started to take seriously her training. He had his doubts, but seeing her during today's taijutsu evaluation being toe to toe with one of the best taijutsu practisers, Uchiha Sasuke, made him realize that he didn't understood how deep was her resolve.

And what a shock it came to the chuunins instructor. Yamanka Ino, Sakura´s best friend, had informed her that the girl had come with that taijutsu style by herself, combining some basic academy ones that she had found in the library.

It was noting short of amazing, and Iruka knew then and there that he girl will be someone that will mark history. But that made him think of what happened at the end of that match.

Uchiha Sasuke didn't handle well being shoved off like that and had assault Sakura even if he had defeated her. In the end, she had some bruised rigs and emotional turmoil as result. He saw her face in the hospital room after being declared ready to go after some treatment while Ino told her what had happened form her point of view.

The infatuation of the girl for the Uchiha had received a low blow and he knew that it was the main reason why she was a genin hopeful to start with. That is why he was at the Haruno´s from door at these late hours, to talk to Sakura about continuing her ninja career despite everything that had happen.

Knock, knock. The door opened after a couple of minute for a pink haired man with deep gray eyes behind a pair of glasses.

"Yes, can I help you, chuunins-san?"

"Hai, Mr. Haruno. I'm Academy Instructor Umino Iruka and I had come here to speak to your daughter…"

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And cut…

I feel evil. I figured that you could wait another chapter before releasing what will happen with the Hyuuga. I knoe is kind of short, but is just a interlude of what is going to happen next^^. Also, I want to use another points of view to give some insights of the mayor characters and to make things more entertaining. Hopefully you like.^^

Next chapter will be at some point during the weekend. Like I told you, I had been kind of busy, but will clear my schedule as soon as possible^^

R&R.


	8. Under the dragon s gaze

**AN: **Nas! Sorry for the delay, a black crossed the front of my house I need to chasing the dammed cat so it walk back again before everything I had get destroyed. But in the process I lost…

Anyway, this chapter is one that many of you had been waiting for. I hope that you enjoy and don't find it too cliché or boring. But if you do, say so. I cannot improve this and make it worth of your time if you stay quiet.

That being said, I thanks every one of you that took your time to add me to you favourite/alert lists. I thank even more those that took the time to leave some words of encouragement, via pm or review.

Now, enjoy the chapter.

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><p><strong>Chapter 8: Under the dragon's gaze<strong>

_"By the time I was sixteen I regarded the deaths and wounding of several thousand men as a small affair, a kind of morning skirmish, if you will, and it was good that I was so hardened."_ – An allusion to a letter written by General William Tecumseh Sherman to his wife in 1864.

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><p><em>Dear Hinata:<em>

_My precious daughter, if you are reading this, then I am dead and could not be next to you as you grow in to the beautiful woman than I am sure you will be. But if you are reading this, also means that your future is not what I hope for and you were forced to become strong to survive. _

_Using all my skills, I investigated and discovered the means of our survival and, despite it being incomplete, the key to your success. This is my gift and legacy to you, and you had earned it if you had decoded my testament to the future. Let your ears hear, let your eyes see, because with this you will unlocked _The Power_ that is rightfully yours._

_Let me tell you, daughter of mine, about the next stage in the evolution of the Byakugan…_

(An excerpt from Hyuuga Himeko´s journals, deciphered by Hyuuga Hinata).

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><p>Hyuuga is superior, or so Hiashi thought. The Hyuuga had been blessed with the most useful and powerful of dojutsus. The Byakugan show itself in almost any newborn of its members, bar some few exceptions, unlike the powerful and technically extinct Mokuton of the Senju. The Byakugan could be activate and trained with some exercise and seals without the need to go to extreme lends to obtain it, unlike the Uchiha´s infamous Sharingan. But not only that, Hyuuga developed a nearly perfect unbeatable taijutsu style complementing their bloodline perfectly.<p>

The Hyuuga Clan had the greatest numbers full of warriors that, despite many of them not being shinobi, could fight in equal ground with almost any other shinobi force. Also, thanks to the cage seal, Hiashi didn't need to worry about inner disputes in the clan. Unknown to the majority of the public and the clan itself, when the clan head retires and the elders become too weak, they are also sealed with the cage seal in case of enemy factions getting "smart" ideas and, as such, he didn't need to worry about power struggles and insurrections making big decisions taking relatively fast and swift.

And now, another big decision would take place. His so called daughter had been nothing but a failure, and now, a rebel to his decisions. It was time to do what he ought to do long time ago.

* * *

><p>Hinata was revising the scrolls that contained her mother's journals and the TRUE information in them. Somehow, using blood seals and emotional seals, her mother had hidden all her research in plane side. After her "drift" with Naruto-kun, she had noticed that something was different in the scrolls. It took her almost two weeks with Naruto's help, but they managed it. What was inside was nothing short of amazing. Her mother was a genius of the highest order and had planned things even after her dead. At first she wondered why, why go this far? But now that she knew the truth she understood how rotten the Hyuuga was. Despite the pure whiteness of their eyes, most of their souls were as dark as a new moon night.<p>

An hour ago, a couple of minutes after she arrived to the compounds, her father informed her that she needed to be at the dojo in one hour.

Closing and sealing the scrolls, Hinata readied herself and got out her room to the family dojo.

"_The stage is set, the music is ready. Now lets see if we can dance."_ Pondered the Hyuuga girl, descending to the place that will change the Hyuuga Clan's fate.

* * *

><p>Ninja moves in the shadows. Silence is their native language and deception is their greatest weapon. Secrets are their treasure. To be forgotten, as if they have never existed, was their highest glory.<p>

Under the pale light of the crescent moon, Uzumaki Naruto was moving as true ninja. Cruising in silence through the Hyuuga compounds, he was preparing the final details to set their trap. Early, they had sent a forged letter to the Hokage excusing Hiashi and any other of the Hyuuga clan from mayor activities for while. It was at their advantage that at the moment the proud noble clan only had less than two dozen active shinobi in the village ranks. All of them were called in similar forged fashion.

After finishing, the blond sneaked in the family dojo with nobody as the wiser, where all the Hyuuga was gathered. But, how? How he got past all those "all seeing eyes" without being noticed?

It was simple, and the answer still amazed Naruto to no end. Hinata´s _Ghost Walker_ training gave them results far beyond of what they first imagined. They hadn't notice him because they could not see him at all. It was irony that dictate that the heir they considered "useless and weak" had discover a true weakness of their precious eyes and manages a way to nullify their proud bloodline.

Hearing their murmured comments about Hinata, their subtle insults and derogatory remarks, made Naruto's blood boil. But, paradoxically, it was in cold fury. The Uzumaki didn't understand the concept of family love, but he new that his was not it. It was in these kind of moments were he was glad to be and orphan. So that he didn't have to endure abused, cold and unloving parents. Parents that sacrifice his life in the benefit of outsiders…

Unmercifully, Naruto killed that last tread of thought. He was set about not thinking the bastard parents that had cursed him to a miserable life.

Exactly sixty seconds after, Hyuuga Hinata entered the dojo to face the rotten souls that composed her "family".

* * *

><p>When Hinata entered the dojo she noticed the interesting fact that they weren't alone. Almost all the Hyuuga, of both branches, were there. Her father sat at the front part of the room while Hanabi was kneeled at his right and Neji at his left. Next to her cousin she recognized Hyuuga Komura, and immediately she knew what was happening.<p>

Without changing her pace or show any discomfort, Hinata sat on the floor, in the middle of the room. She didn't have to active her Byakugan to know that everybody was watching her with most of them having pity, disdain and pure contempt in their eyes.

"Hyuuga Hinata, do you know why you are here?" asked Hiashi, with his stoic face and cold eyes on her daughter.

"No, I do not." Hinata answered.

"Your teachers informed us about your spectacularly performance during your taijutsu evaluation. We, of course, were skeptics, but some of our clan members verified what truly happened. Care to explain why you neglected to mention your success?"

"I merely defeated another academy student that lacked the skills and talent to become a ninja. I didn't see the merit of defeating a weakling worth enough to mention to you… father."

"But you didn't mention that this "weakling" is a year older and, despite everything, is one of the top kunoichis in the whole academy."

"Then, I was simply lucky." She was keeping her poker face, but inside she wanted to roll in the floor while laughing at the stupidity of her father. He really loved to be dramatic.

"Alas, maybe you're a correct. But this is not the matter why you were called here. We also were informed that you start hanging out with Uzumaki Naruto again, despite our warnings concerning the boy. Why had you chosen to disobey?"

"Because, of all our classmates, Uzumaki Naruto is the only one I deemed worthy of my attentions. As you said before, I need to choose carefully with whom I associated my self with. I chose him."

The silenced could be felt like a blanket of silk. This was the first time that the Hyuuga members had seen Hinata, the shy timid scary mouse of a heir, speak this much, and not only that, but back talking to her father, the Hyuuga Clan's Head.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Hiashi was about to proceed but was cut by Hinata´s remark.

"I don't understand you." She exclaimed in a faux frustrated voice. "You tell me to improve, to get stronger. And when I finally start to develop my strengths, you order me to throw what is making me advance."

This was the last straw for Hiashi.

"Hinata, we, the Hyuuga, had had enough of your insolence, your unwillingness of behave as a true heir of our noble family and your disregard of our traditions. As such, here an now you will face The Trial to see if you are the right choice as the next Clan Head."

"Isn't it too soon?" asked Hinata. And it was a genuine question. After all, the Trial, that was a combat between two or more Hyuugas, were hold after both parties reach their chuunins rank.

"In this case, waiting any longer will be futile. You will face Hanabi, Neji and Komura… at the same time."

THAT was unexpected. The murmur travelled quietly through the audience. Normally, it was one opponent after another. But to face three at the same time, especially the most promising fighters in both branches, it was unheard of.

Hinata just stood up and readied herself putting both her hands behind her back. The three challengers positioned themselves around her with their fighting stances. One could tell the eagerness that each one had even through their stoic smirks, eagerness to convince Hinata´s head to depart from the rest of her body.

"Hajime!" signed Hiashi.

As cued, the three of them launched their attacks at the same time. Hinata just stood there without moving. The collective thought was that the shy heir had resigned herself to her fate.

They couldn't be farther from the truth.

Hinata closed her eyes, dojutsu deactivated. When her enemies where a couple inches apart they… plumbed to the floor unmoving?

"What the he…" was the shocked murmured words that Hyuuga Hiashi, by the first time in recorded history, said with a gobsmacked face. Though just a handful of people noticed this, as surprising as it was, because all the attendants were in similar states of shock.

And it was not for least. Hyuuga pride itself in being able to catch everything with their "all seeing eyes." Few things in this world escape those white globes, and those that did were often of divine or demonic nature.

But at the moment something had appeared in front of them, something that they could not discern. They didn't even blink and somehow fail to register what had happened.

Slowly, Hinata walked outside the human "circle" that the paralyzed bodies of her opponents had formed at her feet. She had to open her eyes yet.

"If this is all that I need to face them, as an confirmed heir of the Hyuuga I, Hyuuga Hinata, challenge Hyuuga Hiashi for the Head seat." These were the magic words. As a broken charm, everybody got a hold on themselves and started processing the winner's words.

"What is the meaning of this, Hinata? What had you done?"

"Simply father, I am starting your early retirement. You are too old for this job. Or you don't want to face me and be defeated by your weak and shy little old me?" That last part sounded a lot of what one Mitarashi Anko would say in both words and voice tone.

"You will dearly pay for your insolence. I accept and when you lose, you will never see the light of the sun again."

And with that sentence, Hiashi disappear just to reappear in blur in front of Hinata with a stretching palm aimed to her heart. This time, Hinata open her eyes just as her father's palm was a mere inches of her chest, and, as the Hyuugas before him, Hiashi found himself in the floor, watching the ceiling, Byakugan turned off and all his chakra coils completely sealed, with just the necessary ones to keep him alive.

"How…?" Hiashi started, but the words died in his throat. He watched in shock at her daughter's eyes. Her eyes were different. The standard popped out veins around her eyes that indicated an active Byakugan were not present. Instead, her completely white irises were surrounded by a thin black circle in its borders. ( I posted a picture in the bio of my profile with all the stages of the new Byakugan^^).

All of the Members in the Hyuuga Clan discovered a little fact that they were unaware of: they could not move. Not even an inch, or made the smallest of gestures. If curious outsider would have entered at than moment to the compounds, he or she will noticed immediately that every single Hyuuga were under the same exact circumstances. The outsider also would have notice that all the Hyuugas were gathered in and around the dojo next to the main entrance.

Back in the dojo, Hinata positioned herself in front of the unmovable crow so that everybody could see her eyes.

For the first time in the recent history, the Hyuuga heir, and now Clan Head, developed a full grin on her face that sent shiver down their spines. Such grin full of madness did not suit such young, lovely timid face. What was in front of them was not a little 11 years old cute girl, no, what ever was in front of them could only be described as one thing, and one thing only: a monster with a predatory smirk in front its prey.

"Welcome Hyuuga, to the end of your life as you know it and the beginning of your worst nightmare. Behold the endless power of my _**FUKOI BYAKUGAN: EMMA-O!**_"

"And taste the fear of your new destiny…" said a voice out of nowhere.

A couple of seconds later all the Hyuuga saw how Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and resident village pariah, appeared literally out of the thin air. Immediately, to the audience horror, Naruto slashed one of his wrist and pure his blood on the floor. As soon as the blood touched the floor, a huge bright orange seal array appeared, not only on the dojo´s floor, but if anybody saw the compounds from above, they would have seen the same bright orange seal in ALL the Hyuuga lands.

And like that, their monochromatic world became pitch black.

* * *

><p>When Ino open Sakura´s bedroom, she found her pinknette friend silently staring the crescent moon from her windows frame. As a good friend would, Ino had stay with Sakura the whole day after the disaster in the taijutsu evaluation. Thinking about it just made Ino´s blood boil. How dare that emo bastard hurt Sakura after leaving her unconscious and won the fight? It was at times like this that she hates herself for falling in the duckbutt haired bustard's charm. But part of her felt some glee watching the pinknette having her ass handle to her. Ino had forgiven Sakura for the breach on their friendship, but she hadn't forgotten it. It hurt her a lot when Sakura throw their close friendship over the boy. And for this, Ino feel ashamed of herself. She knew how hard Sakura had been working on mending her mistakes, especially the wrongs to her, and how hard the girl was working in better herself.<p>

It was confusing, but Ino was not so pity to crush the efforts of the girl, even if she had de urges to spit on Sakura´s face.

She didn't overhear the private conversation that her friend had with their instructor, but she was sure about its content. Oh, well, if wasn't as if Sakura herself would not tell her about it soon enough.

"Iruka came to talk me about staying in the shinobi program." Said Sakura, without turning after a while.

"Did you have made a decision?"

"Yeah, I decided to continue."

That brought a sigh of relief to Ino. She was kind of wary about Sakura´s determination to be a kunoichi. After all, she knew that the Haruno only decided to be a kunoichi to catch Sasuke attention.

"Ino, if I may ask, when do you stop liking Sasuke?" this time, Sakura was facing her blonde friend.

Ino thought hard about it. She decided to be honest with her and there were a couple of things that the girl needed to know.

"Honestly? When we broke up."

THAT surprised Sakura. It didn't made sense to her. Ino had been a front line Sasuke fangirl until five months or so ago. Her confusion have been evident on her face, it seems, because Ino started to elaborate.

"Sakura, when the _drama queen_ became an obstacle between us, I decided that any boy was worth of a friendship. I may be popular back them, but I didn't have any real friends either, and so, you became somebody precious to me. And I didn't tell you, faking my crush on Sasuke, because I was hurt by your rejection and because, even after that, I still considered you a friend, so I decided to be closed to you, but in a different way." Said Ino with calm in her face, while inside all she wanted to do was to cry. But she couldn't, one of them needed to be strong for the other, and Ino had decided to be always stronger than anybody else.

And with those words, Haruno Sakura understood how deeply she had screw, how much Ino had been a true friend and how she had throw those precious pearls to the pigs. Sakura broke down then and there.

The floods of her eyes fell like waterfalls while Ino hugged the girl, leaving the tears to stain her clothes. For once, she didn't mind about them.

That night, Haruno Sakura´s obsession with Uchiha Sasuke truly and fully died.

* * *

><p>When Hiashi regain consciousness, he immediately, and subtly, test the movement of his body and discovered, to his confusion that he could move all his limbs. Activating his Byakugan without the need of seals, the former clan head noticed that all of his chakra coils were unsealed and he was kneeled in the front line of rows of kneeled Hyuugas.<p>

In front of him was his daughter watching him, and the rest of the clan he presume, with the infamous Uzumaki Naruto at her side.

Now, cooled down and with a cleared head, Hiashi started to go over what had happened.

"_First, somehow, Hinata won without moving at all her fight with Hanabi, Neji and Komura. Then, she defeats me in the same mysterious manner. Maybe it had to do something with whatever happened __to her eyes. I think I know what it is, but it is still ridiculous that those fairy tales are truth. And now she had her normal Byakugan back, but somehow they also look different, like is they have a darker tone of white in them… but…"_

But his musings where cut short because Hinata started to speak to their audience.

"Dear Hyuuga, " yeah, again with the sarcasm, "the first thing that you will notice is that the branch members cage seal is gone." That was a nice way to start an speech.

Every Hyuuga was checking if it was just a disillusioned lie, the branch member looking themselves, and the main members confirming their findings. It was not a lie.

"IMPOSIBLE!" cried some elders and some members of both branches.

"And yet, the evidence is in front your _all seeing eyes._" Answered Hinata watching how some of them activated their Byakugan to verify if there was something amiss. "Now all you need to know that everybody, down to the last one of us, has a new seal on their bodies, one that you will not see without your Byakugan activated. One seal that is on one of your hips." Yeah, the shock of the Hyuugas was continuing to be the must amusing thing. For that night, their widely known stoicism was broken several times so far, and were continuing to be broken more times to come. It got to the point that some of the members, female and not, undressed themselves to check on it. Again, the truth on Hinata´s word hit them as hard as a chakra enhanced hammer.

"How there you? You had condemned us all." Cry in overdramatic fashion the elder generation.

"SILENCE!" This time was Naruto, who had been quiet all this time, yelled at them. To the surprise of many, every single one of the Hyuugas shut their mouth and discovered that they could not speak. "Thank you." Said the blond softly before straighten himself a letting Hinata to run the show.

"Thanks darling. Where I was? Oh yeah, the new seal. You see, our former seal was too primitive to really do the job, and, really barbaric and unfair to our fellow clan's kin, so I decided to improve it. The new seal had a lot of new useful features that are quiet handy. You had just discovered one of them: total control over all of you. And as you can see, Naruto-kun also has the control to it^^." Hinata was smiling softly and sweetly. This was starting to creep out the Hyuuga even more than they were.

"Other useful ones are, first, protection of that, in case of rape, the newborn will not have the Byakugan. If they transplant it without the consent of the owner, the destroy themselves. If they try to clone it somehow, they also got destroyed. If the owner tries to sell it they also will be destroyed. The newborns from now on will have all this protections in their blood too, but the seal need to be applied still. And that pain command that the old one had been eliminated from it, because as you can see is not necessary. There are more things on it, but that is the general idea."

"Now, just to you to test that total control feature: everybody that can stand up without help, please do so." And everybody did, bar babies and really old men and women. "Everybody, start dancing as _kabuki_ performers." And so they did. Even those that didn't knew how to dance where dancing as seasoned pro dancers, albeit a little sloppier that those that did know how to dance.

After almost ten minutes of ordering to do ridiculously and equal embarrassing tasks, everybody had the point crossed: They were the bitches of Hyuuga Hinata and there was nothing they could do about it.

"And last, but not least, the key of my success and why you are going to be less than the sole of Naruto-kun's shoes. This is the next step in evolution. **FUKOI BYAKUGAN: ASHURA**"

And, like that, Hiashi suspicions came to past. Hinatas eyes didn't have the vain bulging out on her face, but her change in a geometrical triangular design (**AN: **again, see the draws in my profile.) Every Hyuuga was cursing their inability to express their confusion, for many of them, and their incredulity remarks of shock, in case of few others that also knew what was happening. All of a sudden, everything started to make sense for those that knew.

"This is one of the gifts of the new level of the Byakugan and I want to show you how this particular one is used. Hyuugas Shinji, Midori, Hioshi, Hanabi, Hiashi and Neji, please come for." Said calmly order the girl.

Said members stand up in line in the front of the, once again, kneeled crowd.

"First of: Neji, Hiashi, please met Hyuuga Shinji, the one that help the Kumo´s ambassador to past our defences and kidnap me." Shinji´s face pale immediately. The fact that he was facing his fellow clan mates was not helping either. "Please, tell us _dear_ Shinji, the reasons of your treachery." Said Hinata, still in her cheerful happy face mode.

"I wanted revenge on the main family. I had lost my wife to that dammed seal and my daughter was going to be slaved in a life of servitude too. I hate you, I hate you all." Said Shinji, not hiding the venom on his voice towards the cause of his suffering.

"I see. I understand your anger Shinji, but you put in danger my life and were the reason that Konoha almost go to war. Neji, this man was a direct cause of your father's, Hizashi-sams´s, death. Do you want to take his life in compensation?" Hinata asked to his cousin that was numbed by the revelation.

"I want to hurt him, but I… I understand his reasons." Said Neji, really confused with himself, but that's how he felt. He understood all to well that consuming rage towards the other half of the family.

"I see. Well Shinji, at first I wanted you to die, but be thankful of Neji´s mercy. Still, this cannot go unpunished. Shinji, see you daughter, memorize how she look and how much fear is leaking through her eyes at the moment, fears for you. Did you do it?" asked Hinata, but everybody knew that the man did as he was told. "Good, because for now on your eyes will be sealed forever!" And to the horror of the presents, Shinji´s eyes became black for a moment and then white again. But not the Hyuuga´s usual pearl whiteness, no, it was the blind people whiteness all over his eyes. Hyuuga Shinji turned forever black, with her daughters gaze as his last memory of the outside colourful world.

"This is an order, you will not commit suicide, and nobody in the clan will kill you to put you out of your misery. You lost sight of was most important, and now, you will never see again. Go to your seat. You too, Neji." And both silently did.

Neji was terrified. He had condemned, alas inadvertently, the transgressor to a fate worst than death. To the hell that every Hyuuga fear: to become blind.

"Now that that is out the way," continued Hinata in her sickly sweet voice "Father, Hanabi, let me present you Midori and Hioshi, the ones responsible to kill mom while she was pregnant of Hanabi inducing her gekken genkai poison."

"WHAT! Is that true?" this time was Hiashi the one that saw the elderly couple with blazing anger.

"Yes, it is." Said Midori with a hint of remorse, Hioshi was not so repentant.

"Why?" asked Hanabi in a weak voice. She respects a lot her elders, like they taught her. To think that the same elders, not almost killed before birth, but also killed her mother, the mother that she never knew, was crushing her like a rock to an egg.

"That's because that fool of Himeko´s was developing a new seal to unify the family. We could not allow that, the traditions need to be maintained." Said Hioshi like spitting something bitter from his mouth.

"So father, what do you one to do? I had the feeling that you will not as merciful as Neji."

"You are right, I want to kill these too myself." Said Hiashi.

"Then, do so."

Hiashi didn´t need to be told twice.

"**Juunken: ****Hakke ****Hakke Nihyaku Gojūroku** **Sho** (Gentle Fist Style: Eight Trigrams Two Hundred Fifty- Six Palms)" and with that, a rain of palm trust rain upon the two murders. Just few of the veterans in the clan reach the 128 variant of the main Juunken style, and until now, nobody had seen the 256 variant that only Hiashi could perform. It was not wonder why he was the clan head, because his gentle fist at Kage level.

With the 64 variant, the main chakra coils were sealed inducing in paralysis and a lot of pain in the body. With the 128 variant, the chakra coils were utterly destroyed with little chance of recovery; if the victim survived, he or she would never be a shinobi again. With the 256 variant it wasn't a matter if they will live or not, it was how painful would be there dead.

Midori and Hioshi died really, really painfully.

"Thanks for the show pops, now you and Hanabi can go can sit over there with the rest." And they did. Hiashi was trying to calm his rage in the process, and failing miserably.

"Now that this out of the way, the reason why I wanted to show you this was so I can demonstrated the abilities of my eyes. You see, with _**Ashura**_ activated I can see all you memories all of what you know. It, of course, just applies with someone that I share my blood with, namely you, but at the moment I know everything that you all know. For example, Ko, I know where you hide you secret stash of sake, or Mika, I know where you put certain…reading material. Heck, I know some your deepest…desires" said Hinata while the mentioned individuals paled and start blushing madly. It was general thought that, aside from Hinata, any Hyuuga was physical incapable to blush.

This of course was a BS of the highest order. While it was true that Hinata could literally copy all their memories of her blood relatives, they were a couple of requires for its properly functioning. First, she need to be in close range, like now, and second, she need to insert some of her chakra in the victim, thing that she did while they were unconscious. She could perform the same trick in other people in range but she only will...switch their perception, interconnecting it with hers. She called the ability the _"Hijack Perception"_ and it was damn useful in combat.

The rest of the Hyuuga just truly comprehended how royally screw they were.

"Now they will be some rules to go over, because things are going to change from now on. First, Hiashi, you will…"

And with that, the old Hyuuga ways were totally destroyed, and a new age for the _all seeing people_ started a new. A change that will be marked on history pages for the ages to come.

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><p>Later that night, Hinata was in one of the galleries watching the starts. At her side, was Naruto, smoothing her back with cared and devotion while whispering a lullaby softly, only for her ears.<p>

"Naruto-kun, I was thinking…" said Hinata after a while, "I decided to be Hokage. This cursed village had done nothing more than produce us misery and bad memories. They had stolen your bright smile, the want that shined as the sun. I want that sun to shine again; I want to recover your happiness." She was facing him, while caressing her cheeks with his hand.

Naruto just stared at her, unable to expressed in word what he was feeling. But their link let them share what they could not with words. Hinata could feel his gratitude, love for her and the fair that he was imposing her with heavy burden and stealing her own dreams, her own future.

"Naruto-kun, don't think that. I want to be a future for both of us, I want to reduce to ashes the Leave and rebuilt it a new, a home that you, we, will be proud to call home. Are you with me?"

"Always and always, Hinata-chan; in this world and in the next." Said Naruto full with passion, giving her one of his soft but hearty smiles, one smile only for her eyes to see.

This was the scene when Hyuuga Hibana found before kneeling in front her new clan head waiting permission to speak.

"I know why are you her Hibana, and your affiliation with Danzo. Don't worry, I'm not mad at you," said Hinata seeing Hibana starting to panic. "On the contrary, I admired your courage in deciding to become one of his Root to serve in the best way your village and protect those that you care for.. Please give me your report and everything that you know on him, and don't worry about that security seal on your tongue, it had been neutralize…"

And that's what Hibana did, for the first time in decades crying in happiness because the prospect of a brighter future.

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><p>(An excerpt from Hyuuga Himeko´s journals, deciphered by Hyuuga Hinata).<p>

… _my daughter, I have left this unto your care because I know that you will be wise enough in its uses. Now, that I will start my journey into the land from where I will never return, I pray for your safety and happiness. Remember to always impart judgement as an Akuma and also remember to apply mercy as a Deva._

_I tell you this, daughter of mine, because one day, you, should rule._

_With love,_

_Hyuuga Himeko._

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An cut. One of the longest chapters so far.

Did you like it, did you hate it?

R&R


	9. Ninja eats Ninja

**AN: **Nas! It had been a while. I want to thanks my new beta, ProgKiller, who had look over this chapter to weed out the grammar mistakes that may appear. This chapter is long, so hopefully the waiting was worth of it. Not to much action, but some plot points reaveled themselves and new ones showed up^^.

I want to thanks all of you who had take your time to let a review, specially **devilzxknight86, **and those that added this story to their alert/favorite list.

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: Ninja eats Ninja<strong>

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><p><em>"No man is worth your tears but… When you find one that is he will not make you cry."<em> Anonymous

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><p>"Are you sure about this?" Asked Shimura Danzo to Hyuuga Hibana, who was kneeled in front of him at the moment; on his desk, was a single white blank sheet of paper. What was so special about it, anyone may ask? On the paper, that looked like nothing was on it, was a carefully written report from his agent in the Hyuuga. It was in a code created by his Root division, so practically unknown and, as an extra security measure, the wording was totally hidden from everybody but two people: the writer and Danzo himself. Other purpose was that, after you fill the page, you could "wipe out" the words and start anew with more information; the "wipe out" information was "stored", for a lack of a better word, in a microscopic highly concealed seal on the paper. Aburame Torune and Sai, using the microscopic insects of the former and the inks abilities of the latter, engraved it on a sheet of paper. But a lot of the credit was for Sai. He was the one that designed the seal and using, once again, his amazing ink techniques, he copied in thousands of papers the same seal at once; a seal that was hidden from the rest of the world too, also Sai's work.<p>

The result? A perfect system to handle information without anyone as the wiser. The paper would be burned to nothing after its use; Danzo didn't want anybody to stumble to any "unnecessary" information. Information was dangerous and was the second most powerful weapon that a shinobi has, topped only by deception.

"Indeed Danzo-sama. There is a high possibility that Hyuuga Hinata can be recruited into our unit and, with the right method, Uzumaki Naruto will follow."

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><p>Today was weird day for the Sandaime Hokage. In front of him, on his desk, was an unrolled scroll. At the other side of the desk were sat Koharu and Homura, his two counsellors.<p>

"So," started Homura after a while, "you are telling us that the Hyuuga came to you with this proposition." His voice was paused and in a careful even tone.

"It sounds as a political move for more power to me." Said Koharu with a frown on her face.

"Maybe it is, but you had to admit, it would be beneficial for Konoha as a whole too." Answered Homura.

"It is both." Said the senior Sarutobi after a while. He had been silent pondering the pros and cons of the Hyuuga´s proposition. "The question is, are we going to approve it?"

"Even if it is a political play from Hiashi, the benefits are something that cannot be ignored. I think we should go with it. It is worth the possible risks." Said Homura.

"I still think that this is an underhanded move, but I agree with both of you." Said Koharu. This, of course, was surprising after her reluctance over the whole matter. "I think is a good way to avoid another _Uchiha__Incident._ Also, Konoha´s forces will be strengthened with it. It is for the best." Explained the old advisor.

"Then, it is decided." Was the final verdict of the old Hokage.

Earlier, Hyuuga Hiashi had come at the first hours of the day asking for a meeting with him. It had been four days since the Hyuuga close down and, if he had to be honest with himself, he was VERY curious about it. Other think that was eating him was the fact that Naruto had been seen with Hinata in public and the fact that he also had been seen going in and out of the Hyuuga´s compounds.

The meeting was even more…enlightening, to say the least. The Hyuuga had eradicated their barbaric seal with a better version of it. Also, Hiashi had informed him that Hinata had secured her place as heir of the clan and the next clan head. No details were given, but Sarutobi was not called "The Professor" for nothing. He knew that, for Hinata to secure her station as the head successor, she had to pass the clan trail in an unquestionable way. But, that was not the tip of the iceberg, as surprising as it was.

No, it was the actual reason for the meeting what was the real shocker.

After explaining some facts about the clan situation, Hiashi proposed an interesting idea. Two plans to be more exact.

The first was to turn a third of the Hyuuga clan into Konoha's Police Force. After the Uchiha Massacre, a division of the ANBU Corps became the victim's substitutes on the matter, but they were not enough for the task, and as result the crime in the dark side of the Leaf had increased. If they succeed doing this, then, not only Konoha would be better protected, but also their ANBU, an integral part of Konoha's power, would increase too. If Sarutobi remember correctly, somebody had proposed something similar in the past in one of the council reunions, but Hiashi himself had shut down the idea. The main problem with it was that every clan head had a specific task assigned to them and their clan. For example, Akaimichi Chouza and his clan took care of the food supplies, the development of new ways that the ninjas in the field could eat healthy and efficiently, etc… The Yamanaka Clan deal with the information and spy network, the Nara deal with the Tactics department, and so on, to name a few.

Hiashi himself was in charge of diplomatic reunions with outside parties out of Konoha and Fire Country territories. The reasons were obvious. The funny fact about it was that only Hiashi and some elders of the Hyuuga were the ones that did all that work. The rest of the Clan only provide with the occasional ninja in the ranks and, during war, capable fighters.

But now, Hiashi wanted to change that. He had presented his resignation as an ambassador; he even went so far as to propose Chouza as his successor. It was crazy; it was totally unexpected but also was something that Hiashi could definitely pull out.

The other thing that Hiashi proposed was to offer another third of the Hyuuga population to start a medic nin program. With their doujutsu, iryuo-nins (medic ninjas) could be the best medics ever produce since Tsunade. This was a more tricky measure. To the program to work it had to be run by the person that proposed it in the first place.

Sarutobi sighted. It seemed that he had to pull Jiraiya from is spy network to track down and bring back his wayward student.

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><p>Yamanaka Ino was not a "dumb blond". Far from it, her family techniques, that revolved around the human mind in its entirety, help her to understand human behaviour in deep concept. Not only that, but her clan was specialized in information processing, this help her farer in decision making and character judging really well. That said, she new that, as a preteen girl, she was bound to make a lot of mistakes. Chasing Uchiha Sasuke as a rabid dog was of the most shameful things she had done so far with her life. But part of her training in her clan arts was to accept her pros and cons and work to find a way around them, it strengthened the character and helped her further understanding herself so she could understand how others thought. Ino, of course, didn't understand too much about it, but she comprehended the concept behind those principles.<p>

Ever since Sakura had changed and started to train like there was no tomorrow, Ino had started to train as well, really train. During the last 10 or so months she mastered the first 5 basic clan techniques and was half way 3 more. Her parents didn't have a clue about it, though she suspected that her father, being a lot more perceptive than her mom, had his suspicions himself. Further more, as Sakura, she had forsaken the stupid diets and started her own brand of train and, like Sakura, had discovered her niche. She hadn't perfected it yet and, if she wanted to progress further, she knew that sooner or later she would have to ask for help. You only could go so far on your own.

But, in Ino's mind, her greatest achievement was to be able to start to judge accurately others. Not too surprisingly, she started with Uchiha Sasuke. What she found wasn't too pleasant.

She admitted that, true to a fangirl nature, she didn't know the specifics behind the Uchiha Massacre. As everybody else in the village, she had known that Sasuke´s family had been killed by one of their own, leaving Sasuke as the sole survivor. Now she knew, thanks to some well placed ears, that it was Sasuke own brother that made the deed. Not only have that, but also knowing the fact that Sasuke had been tortured by the fratricidal to the verge of mental collapse, had shinned new light upon the matter. Sasuke, even now, had severe psychological trauma, and it was too deep rooted. For some stupid reason that she could not understand, the Uchiha was not receiving treatment like Sakura had. Ino believed that Sasuke felt like a worm compared to his brother, a monster in human skin capable to eradicate a whole ninja clan by himself, and, when Sakura was outmatching him, he felt threatened by her an so, he snapped. And if Ino was right, them he would get worse with time.

What irked more was that she could bet her clan´s name that any of his fangirls, bar Sakura, had known all this facts.

Sakura, as far as Ino knew, was not that shallow. One of the reasons that Ino seek Sakura, even after all the bad water between them, was that the girl was one of a kind. Sakura was direct with other people. Of course, the pinknette had her stupid/embarrassing moments like anybody else, but those could be pinned down to her age and inexperience. She had asked Sakura why she had pursued Sasuke in the first place; her response made her revaluate herself and everything around her once again. Now, Ino thought that Sakura may had been truly in love with the _emo-queen_ and, even if Sakura said that she will not seek Sasuke again, Sakura may still love the guy, even if that love was disappearing.

But the other person that she had been evaluating was no other than Uzumaki Naruto, prankster extraordinaire.

Ino had been totally baffled by her fellow blond. In retrospective, she had analyzed all her memories that contained Naruto in any shape or form, and what she found had her intrigued ever since.

She didn't know how or why, but Naruto had been wearing and emotional mask of stupidity and deception, that is until the first week of the last term when Hyuuga Hinata had come. Hinata was mystery on herself, but how things had changed ever since she started to hang out with Naruto was disconcerting. It had been a public secret that the Hyuuga heir had a crush for the oblivious blond, but was too shy to anything about it. Taking that in account then hers (and everybody else) surprise to the shy girl's 180 degrees of personality change was, to put it mildly, understandable.

But that was not her focal point at the moment. Something involving both Naruto and Hinata troubled Sakura deeply. No, troubled was not the right word. It was more like totally scared her, and Ino had the inkling suspicion that whatever happened between them was the cause why Sakura need psychological therapy with her father. But, what it was? How she could make Naruto or Hinata speak, or at least, give her a hint of whatever she was looking for?

As fate would dictate it, Uzumaki Naruto in the flesh was walking by to her direction. Pondering things over for moment Ino decided to dig out something today. _"__Well, __no __pain, __no __game.__"_

"Hey, Naruto…!" she yelled at him.

* * *

><p>Everything was going according to plan and Naruto was a happy camper. He and Hinata were officially together with no one was the wiser, Hyuuga was under control and, in two days, he and Hinata would be on the same team, they will star their way up to eternal awesomeness. The past four days his old stupid happy grin was stuck on his face. But this time, it was real.<p>

Yet, there was something that was troubling his happy place. From where had Hinata pulled out _that_ new seal? As far as he knew, neither he nor she had been studying sealing arts. He had to ask about that later, but it wasn't as he care from where it came from. As long as Hinata didn't harm herself, she could had pulled that one from hell itself after sacrificing every single new born in exchange and he would love her the same or more.

Now, he had to past the final test so they could continue with their plans.

Yeah, life was good. And then, he heard his name being called.

"Hey. Naruto…!" he turned around just to see Yamanaka Ino in sprint toward him.

"What's up Yamanaka-san?" said Naruto, still with this happy grin in place albeit more subdued, to the blonde girl. He and Ino haven't been in the best of terms when she had been Sasuke's fangirl. He had noticed that both Sakura and Ino had stopped chasing Sasuke, and acting as true kunoichis in the process, around the same time Sakura started to act weird. He and Hinata had theorized that whatever happened to Sakura, Ino was part of it. Not surprising really, considering their relationship since day one in the academy or maybe before then.

"Just call me Ino, Ino-hime or Ino-sama, if you insist." Said Ino teasing the blond. Sadly, Naruto didn't react as she had hoped, instead he looked at her with a curious yet not so amused stare.

"I will keep **Ino**, thank you very much." Said Naruto with a deadpanned expression in his face.

"Well, there was something that I want to ask you. Are you busy right now?"

"Actually, I was going to Ichiraku´s to eat something. Do you want to accompany me for lunch? We can talk whatever you want there." Proposed Naruto.

Ino thought over it for a moment. Technically it was a date. And, while Ino liked boys a lot, she wasn't going to put herself between Naruto and Hinata. It simply wasn't done and it was against any good code that any girl has. Visions of Hinata destroying Ami without breaking a sweat during the taijutsu evaluation didn't help her uneasiness either. In the other hand, this was a good opportunity to find some info of what was happening with her friends and classmates.

"Sure. But are you sure that Hinata will not mind?" said Ino. She had to be sure that this was a good idea. Naruto was, she had found recently, VERY handsome for his age without his typical orange clothes. Shaking her head to bury that last thought Ino saw Naruto nodding happily to her inquiring erasing her doubts.

* * *

><p>Hinata already new that very soon Naruto will ask her about the new seal that the Hyuuga have. Naruto will assumed that Kyuubi have to do something with it. He would be right if that was his hypothesis. Yeah, she remember the day were they struck a deal with the vixen, they were Naruto and her shared that painful kiss.<p>

(Flashback)

Hinata woke up first of the two. She saw Naruto next to her with their fingers entangled. Then she notice some bars. Cage bars to be exact, bars that she knew all too well.

"Kyuubi." It was not a question. "So you were behind that pain when we kissed. What do you want?" asked Hinata. She was royally pissed because her time with her Naruto-kun was ruined.

"**So, ****I ****was ****not ****mistaken. ****I ****did ****sense ****a ****piece ****of ****me ****in ****you.**" Said the deep growling voice of the Kyuubi while making her face known through the bars.

"How? Do you…?"

"**About your time travel stunt? Yeah. When you kiss with my stupid jailor the part of me in you linked with me, so I know what happened and why I failed my own plans. Is funny and ridiculous to be defeat by you, mere meaty snacks."**

"What do you want?"

"**A deal."**

THAT made Hinata raise her eyebrows. "And do you expect me to trust you again?"

"**Yes, because I will give you my oath on my nine tails that I will fulfil my side of the deal. You know what the means. I will be physically incapable to break my promised."**

"I'm listening." Said Hinata after a while.

"**Now I know that all my attends to break free will end in failure, which will be bad, for both of us."**

"What do you want me to do?"

"**Help me convince my _lovely_ jailor to accept the deal."**

"All right." Said Hinata after thinking it for a while. "But they will be some conditions."

"**I****'****m****listening.****"** Said Kyuubi mirroring her early words.

"Well, I'm gonna need a seal design for…"

And like that, Hinata put her specifications so Kyuubi could come with a finished design of the seal. It was almost a minute after they finished, and Kyuubi transferred the knowledge to Hinata, when Naruto woke up.

(End of flashback)

After that, Hinata didn't tell Naruto of the seal until four months ago; she explained to him how it worked, but never were she got it. Well, it was something that didn't bother her to mush. Hibana had delivered her _report_ to Danzo and Hiashi had given the proposals that she thought the best to the Hokage.

To tell the truth, she was uncomfortable how things were going so well, without any delays or setbacks. It was too good to be true. The uneasy feelings were getting stronger for some reason unknown to her.

Sooner than she expected Hinata would know how accurate her instincts were about the matter.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Ino were eating in comfortable silence their ramen, though, Ino's inner turmoil was not decreasing; for some reason she was struggling to find the right words to start the conversation. Yet, there was a thought that cross both teens mind: <em>"<em>_This__ramen__is__really__good_".

Then, Ino got a good idea.

"Hey Naruto, this ramen is really good. How often you come here to eat?"

Swallowing the last bit of noodles and drinking the ramen's broth in one gulp. "Yeah, is really good, isn't it? I think is the best ramen in the whole Fire Country."

Ino, lacking any better to said, just nodded. But her purpose was accomplished since the atmosphere had been lightened.

"Naruto, you look a lot happier than you had been lately. Something good happened?" said Ino with a teasing smile. She decided to continue a little bit further. "Maybe something to do with… Hinata?" Naruto didn't respond but the slight gulp in his throat said everything that she needed to know. "So, it was Hinata. Did you two resolve your differences?"

Naruto just sighed, like resigning himself to his fate. In truth, he knew that Ino was looking for something so he was playing along with it: _"__Show __them __what __they __want __to __see __and __they __will __not __see __anything __else.__"_

"Yeah, you can say that it was something like that. We are good now." Said Naruto sighing again.

"Really? I'm glad. To tell the truth, you and Hinata always looked o down and gloomy after the row that you two had." Said Ino sincerely. Hinata was one these persons that you didn't want to see them sad. At least that had been the old shyly cute Hinata. The new Hinata was…scary, still one of the most beautiful girls in their year, but scary nonetheless.

"Ino, not that I mind at all, but, why are you talking to me? We had been never in…speaking terms… or any good terms for that matter." Said Naruto with confusion all over his face, or at least that was Ino was looking at.

"Yeah, I noticed it too. We had never been friends, I wonder why." _Smooth __Ino, __really __smooth._

"Well, maybe it had to do with something that is always brooding, his hair looks like the butt of a duck, his name starts with **S** and finish with **asuke**." _Point __to __me._

"Wow, I never pictured you as a sarcastic guy" _Not __that __I __didn__'__t __deserve __that __jab._

"Well, when you have a lot of free time and want to have a laugh or two from stupid people interesting ideas come around rather easily." _Yeah,__like __now._

"True. But you are right. I wasn't being really nice to you in our time in the academy together. For what is worth, I'm sorry for my attitude." Now, Ino was looking straight into his eyes, trying to communicate her sincerity with her stare. "I will really like to be friends with you, if you let me." She stretched her hand, wanting to shake his in acceptance.

"I…would like that." said Naruto truly surprise. He was definitely not expecting this but took her hand with his own smiling all the way.

They talk about everything and nothing while going over a second serving of ramen. It was a pleasant conversation.

But the time came when they have to part ways.

"You know," started Ino before staring to walk away, "if had had a lighter shade of blue in your eyes you will look like a older brother of mine." And with that Ino walk away not missing Naruto´s surprise expression.

Ino now had step closer to her goal to find the root of all her questions. Establishing a thrust bond with Naruto it would be easier to get information from him. Yet, she had a relaxing time hanging out with her fellow blond and she truly want to repeat it again.

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><p>"Are you going Sakura?" asked Shikamaru while staring the shogi board in front of him as he had been during the last 5 minutes. A couple of steps to his right, Chouji was watching the whole thing with amusement smirk on his face while munching some chips.<p>

"Yeah, I need some rest so I can be ready and fresh to the final test." Said Sakura while picking up her things. She had come looking for Ino to hang around for a while but instead found Shikamaru and Chouji cloud gazing. She had joined them for a while before challenging Shikamaru to a shogi game… like she had been doing ever since they started to hang around.

It had been curious encounter. After her therapy session with Ino's father, she had decided to expand her circle of friends. Ino, being Ino, drag her to her reunions with Shikamaru and Chouji so she didn't have two endure her time with them alone. Surprisingly, they have hit pretty well.

Ever since, Sakura had challenged Shikamaru to a shogi game. Not surprisingly, Shikamaru wipe the floor with her. Surprisingly, each time it took more effort from Shikamaru to win. But today, the impossible had happen. Shikamaru had tied with Sakura. It had been a intense game. Shikamaru new that, next time they play Sakura would probably win. It had taken almost a year, but the results were the same, Sakura was starting to outsmart him.

"Hey Chouji, please tell Ino that I came looking for her. Seeya guys." And with that, Sakura left. Shikamaru had take off his gaze from the board to look the pinknette retreating form.

"Hey Shikamaru, are you interested in Sakura?" asked Chouji with a knowingly look on his face.

Shikamaru just stared at his friend with a neutral expression. Only one word coming to his mind and mouth.

"Troublesome."

* * *

><p>Sasuke's body was laying on the floor, covered in sweet, dirt and blood stains. The area around him was full of kunais, shurikens, scorch marks and broken training dummies. He was panting, taking fast short breaths while trying to contain the pain and exhaustion over all his body. His muscles were screaming and him in protest, as they always do after his training period.<p>

"_It __is __not __enough. __I __can__'__t __let __anybody __to __surpass __me. __I __need __to __be __at __the __top. __I __need __to __face __Itachi __being __the __best,__or __my __revenge __will __not __have __meaning. __I __cannot __stay __behind, __I __must __become __stronger, __I __need __to __surpass _him_…__at __al l__cost.__"_

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><p>The final exams came and a lot of students failed to the task. In the other hand, a lot of promising rookies surpassed the expectative.<p>

At the moment, Iruka was having a not so pleasant conversation with the Hokage though.

"Hokage-sama, you can be serious. Are you sure about these changes. I thought the way I put them was the correct combination."

"I know Iruka, you did a splendid job. But there are some facts that you are not private with and that are relevant in the team assignment. And no, I cannot tell you, since is delicate information."

"I… understand Hokage-sama." Said a defeated Iruka.

"_I__'__m __sorry __Iruka, __but __Naruto __cannot __stay __with __Hinata __on __the __same __team.__"_ Thought the old Hokage. _"__Hinata __had __a __strong __hold __over __Naruto. __I __cannot __let __that __Naruto __weaken __his __loyalty __to __Konoha__…__to __me. __Konoha __cannot __afford __to __loose __Naruto__…__at __any __cost.__"_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The classroom was dead silent. Nobody could believe the team assignments. Naruto and Hinata were the most shocked.

"_That __senile __old __bastard. __How __dare __he__…" _Naruto was rating all over his head totally pissed. To the outside word he was just surprised as everybody else.

Hinata of course heard everything through their link. She felt the same, but she was more disappointed that she didn't see it coming. _"__I__'__m __sorry __Naruto-kun, __we __should __had __seen __this __coming.__" _Said/thought a regretful Hinata.

"_I know, Hinata-chan, I know. Now we know for sure that he doesn't have our best interest in his heart. Jiji won this round…"_

"… _but __we __will __win __the __war__… " _finished Hinata full with determination.

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Yakushi Kabuto had finished his report to the Snake Sannin and was preparing to send it to Oto. _"__Orochimaru-sama __will __love __to __hear __the __news.__"_ Thought Kabuto.

Leaving the scroll for a moment he went quickly to pick some things in the working desk in the room next to the one that he was in.

Unknowingly to the traitor, Yuurei was in the room hidden, watching his every move. With a speed and precision that should be humanly impossible, the masked nin took the scroll, copy its contents with a strange ninjutsu too similar to Sai's ink techniques from Root. When he was finished, the masked nin leaved the scroll in the same exact position how he found it.

Kabuto never learned what had happened.

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CUT!

That´s it. Loved it? Hate it? R&R

_**Next episode preview:**_

_"This team is doomed to failure."_

_"So, my old student is not wasting his time..."_

_"I regretfully report that they had gone MIA, alleguedly KIA, Hokage-sama"_

_"My name id Shimura Danzo, and I have something important to propose you"_

_"Sasuke, what you have done?"_


	10. Innatural Selections

**AN:** I`m back. Sorry for the belateness, I had some thechnical problems to upload this chapter despite is was done for since last thursday. I want to thnak all of you that had take your time to review this work, I aslo thank those that had add this to their favorite/alert lists.

Also I want to thank my BETA: **ProngKiller** (Thanks Man, you are AWESOME!).

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Innatural Selections<strong>

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><p><em>But here a rain falls never-ending, and I am far from home<em>. – Jacqueline Carey's **Kushiel** series.

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><p>As a ninja, one had to be accustomed to adapt really fast, to take opportunities as they show up and to use any advantage that one could get to accomplish the mission. Above all, a ninja had to thrust implicitly his Kage, even above his own instincts. Umino Iruka was not an exception. The academy teacher always trusted his instincts to create balanced teams during the final assignment. Over the years, he had acquired a cunning ability creating the perfect combination of genins. It can be counted with one hand the times that he may had committed a mistake and this was the reason, at least in part, that the Hokage and the ninja council accepted his decisions. But this time it had been different. Hokage-sama himself had overruled the placements that he had proposed.<p>

Originally, he had placed Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata and Akaimichi Choji under Yuhii Kurenai; Uchiha Sasuke, Yamanaka Ino and Aburame Shino under Hatake Kakashi; and, Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru and Inuzuka Kiba under Sarutobi Asuma.

But now, things were different, and Iruka could have bet his forehead protector that the students would rebel against it. He would not be disappointed.

"… Team 7 will be formed by Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin sensei will be…" be he couldn't finish. A shocked "WHAT?" was heard above all the students voices. The source? It was the nervous looking, along side an incredulous stare, Haruno Sakura. Iruka assumed, wrongly of course, that Sakura was apprehensive about being in the same team of Uchiha, especially after the last week incident. But Sakura was not even thinking in Sasuke at the moment.

"_Shit! __Why __team __with __Naruto? __Why __any body __but __him? __I __can __deal __with __Sasuke, __but __I__'__m __not __sure __about __Naruto. __I __can __ask __for __a __transfer __but __I __doubt __that __anybody __will __hear __me. __What __to __do?__" _were the thoughts of the pinkette.

"SILENCE!" Iruka yelled, ending all future insurrections. "All teams had been carefully selected by Hokage-sama, if you had any problems with it, you can complain to him directly." That quieted any other protests. "Now, as I was saying, team seven is under jounin instructor Hatake Kakashi. Team 8 is formed by Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and…" and the team assignment went on.

Any ninja in the Leaf thrust their instincts; they trusted their Hokage even more, and Umino Iruka was not an exception. Yet, a thought didn't want to let him be.

"_These teams are, or at least team 7 is, doomed to failure."_

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><p>It had been 2 hours since the last team had left with their jounin sensei. Naruto was sleeping on his desk, Sasuke was brooding while watching the windows at the side and Sakura was keeping close watch over Naruto without being so obvious. Naruto, of course, knew this so he started to fake being sleep so he could observe Sakura without any problems. The Naruto that was sleeping was a normal Bushin; it was thanks to Naruto´s chakra control and some minor passive genjutsus that neither Sasuke nor Sakura had noticed it as an illusion. The real Naruto was in the back on the classroom watching everything, hearing everything. Something about Sakura was bothering him and he wanted to find out why. Hinata had worried him enough.<p>

(Flashback)

"_Remember __Naruto-kun, __keep __a __close __eye __in __Sasuke, __but __never, __and __I __mean __NEVER, __take __your __eyes __from __Sakura__…"_

"_Why?"_

"_Because she is dangerous."_

(End of flashback)

That had left Naruto confused but he never had doubted his Hime before and he would not start any time soon. Yet, her reaction, when he told her about his encounter with Ino, was baffling…to say the least.

(Flashback)

"_She WHAT?"_

"_Yeah, weird, I know. But she is not as bad as I though. The fact that she had gave up her fandom over Sasuke is a plus." Said Naruto happily to the possibility to make a new friend. Maybe things would start to look up for him after all this years._

_Sadly, Hinata didn't share his fortune._

"_Naruto-kun," started Hinata in a too innocent sweet voice, "please, stay away from Ino. I don't want to see her with you after all the insults and tongue lashing that she and the other fangirls inflected upon you in the past." _

"_But Hina-hime, I think Ino was being sincere." Said Naruto confused by her request._

"_Maybe she was Naruto, but tell me, if Hokage-sama, or the rest of the village for that matter, came to you now and ask you forgiveness for all the thing, the beatings, the mistreat that they had caused you," Hinata´s words had the desired effect on Naruto, whom was changing to a darker mood for each word that Hinata pronounced, "would you forgive them?"_

"_Heck, no!" was the fast sincere answer from Naruto._

"_Them, why Ino is different? She was part of your torment, albeit at a smaller scale, so why to welcome her just like that?"_

"_I… don't…know." Naruto was depressed by this. All the joy of making a new friend was gone into the deeps of sadness, hurt and anger._

"_Then, you know what to do." And with that, Hinata sealed the deal with a deep, if brief, kiss that left Naruto totally dazed._

(End of flashback)

Yeah, Naruto didn't know what to think about it, but he would not risk to make Hinata mad at him, or worst, sad. Naruto would let himself to be ass raped by monkeys first than make Hinata cry.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sakura stood up and walked over Iruka, who was correcting some papers on his desk. Enhancing his hearing, he decided to be privy of their conversation. A sided glance confirmed that Sasuke had change lightly his position indicating that he was mildly interest on whatever Sakura wanted to talk about.

"Iruka-sensei," started Sakura. For some reason, her voice sounded too nervous to him, "can I ask some questions?"

Iruka, a bit too happy to interrupt his dealing with paper work, nodded while giving a curious stare to the pinkette.

"Well, I want to know if it is possible to ask for a transfer to another team." THAT surprised Iruka and Naruto, albeit for different reasons. Iruka though that it had something to do with Sakura´s and Sasuke´s incident.

"It is possible," said Iruka, bringing hope to Sakura´s eyes, just to kill it with his next words, "but those happened under overstrained circumstances. No matter how much you may plead for a change, it will not be hear if is not necessary. As ninja, each one of us bound to put aside any feelings or desires that we may have to someone or something." It was cruel, but to say anything less would be even crueller.

"I… understand… Thank you Iruka-sensei." She clearly wasn't happy, but accepted the truth of the matter so went back to her sit. Naruto was baffled by this.

"_What __was __that __about?__" _and _"__Were __the __heck __is __our __jounin-sensei?__"_

Thirty minutes later Naruto had enough. He quickly switched places with his bushin, dispelling it in the process, standing up and stretching before walking to the door.

"Where are you going dobe?" asked Uchiha Sasuke in the never-seen-before-act of starting a conversation on his own volition.

"Me? I am going to get some ramen before going to train. I don't intend to waste my whole day waiting for a teacher that obviously doesn't care enough to come and meet his team." And with that he left. He didn't show it, but his was royally pissed.

Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were let alone in the classroom. Sakura started to spin a kunai on her palm with the only help of her chakra, after a while, she had a kunai in both palms that were spinning rather smugly. It was a simple, yet surprising difficult to do, exercise to improve the kunai and chakra, handling and dexterity. Sakura personal best was lasting 90 minutes with both kunais spinning without stop, and now the wanted to surpass her personal record. In the other hand, Sasuke came back to his trademark brooding position while, discreetly watching whatever Sakura was doing.

To her delight, Sakura lasted 2 hours and 10 minutes before losing her concentration, stopping the spinning kunais on her palms. To the dismay of both of them, their sensei arrived 2 hours and 45 minutes after Naruto was gone.

"Yo!" half saluted, half waved the silver haired jounin with only one visible eye. "Sorry for being late. A black cat… wait, wasn't it supposed to be three of you? Where is your other teammate?"

"He got REALLY annoyed with your tardiness and went off to do Kami knows what with the free time like a little more than three hours ago." Answered Sakura in a VERY pissed tone. Kakashi just sweat dropped at her statement. I never occurred to him that a genin would just bugger off at his antics. I never had happened before.

"Well, we need him so Team 7 could be active. So we need to find it…ASAP."

"What do you mean sensei?" asked Sasuke. That last statement didn't sound good to him, and Sakura was feeling the same dread.

"I will tell you when we find him, but it is safe to say that all your ninja careers depend on it." And with that Kakashi started to get out of their. Sasuke and Sakura followed him immediately.

"Sasuke, Naruto mentioned that he would buy some ramen, so our lead could be found there." Proposed Sakura; Sasuke just nodded. They picked off and in the process Kakashi was behind them reading an orange book while giggling time to time.

"_Maybe __he __is __testing __us __to __see __how __our __information __gathering __and __tracking __skills __are.__"_ Were the individual, synchronized thoughts of both genins.

"_Oh __Kyoko, __you are __such __a __naughty, __naughty __girl.__"_ Was Kakashi's thought at the moment.

It took them ten minutes, ninja speed, to arrive to Ichiraku´s Ramen Stand. Unsurprisingly, Naruto was not there.

"Sir, can I ask you something?" asked Sasuke politely. He knew that, thanks to his _Last __Loyal __Uchiha_ station, things go easier for him. And right now he needed the info where the blond bastard took off form this old man ramen stand owner. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke and my teammate. Uzumaki Naruto, blond with whiskers, was here and we need to know where he went." Sasuke, at the mention of his named, expected to have his doors opened for him, sadly, he went for a surprise with the unimpressed response of the old man.

"Oh, nice to meet you, my name is Teuchi. Yeah, Naruto-kun was here a couple of hours ago. He was kind of pissed at something and was unnaturally quiet the whole time. The most worrying thing was that he only ate 2 bowls of ramen."

"And why that is a bad thing, Ichiraku-san?" asked Sakura. She was kind of annoyed that Sasuke neither introduced Kakashi or she, nor he had include them in the conversation.

"Well, for starters, Naruto is never quiet, calm. He is always a goofball of bouncing energy with something interesting to tell or eager to talk about whatever. But the worst is that how much ramen he ate. Usually Naruto eats between 15 to 18 bowls of ramen. The least he had eaten in the past had been 8 bowls, so you can see why I'm worried."

Sasuke, Kakashi and Sakura were caught out of guard by this. _"__No __matter __how __you __look __at __it, __that __is __WAY __TOO __MUCH __ramen __for __a __normal __human __being, __if __you __are __not __an __Akamichi.__" _was the shared thought.

But something else was bothering Sasuke_.__"__Naruto, __hyperactive? __Since __when? __Naruto __had __been __quiet __and __reserved __ever __since __he __started __to __hang __out __with __the __meek __mouse __of __the __class.__"_ Secretly, Kakashi shared his concerns since it contradicted Naruto´s academy report.

"Ichiraku-san, do you know where Naruto went for training? We need him for our team session." Said Sasuke.

"Well, I often found him in Training Area 43 passed out for exhaustion. You may find him there."

Quickly the team thanked the old man and started to run off the said training area. Again that last piece of information baffled them again.

"_Who are you, Uzumaki Naruto?"_

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><p>Team seven found Naruto nor after long. What they saw surprised them and let then look in awe.<p>

Uzumaki Naruto was running and jumping ON the water while dodging some sort of water tentacles that were popping out form the river that Naruto was using as training ground. He was blindfolded but his evasion moves were graceful, if simple and not too flashy, and his reflexes were something that could only be seen after years of intensive training.

"_Unbelievable,__" _though Kakashi, _"__that __is __an __ANBU __version __of __a __high __chuunin __level __chakra __control __exercise. __Most __chuunin __cannot __do __it. __Heck, __a __lot __of __ANBU __struggle __with __it. __How __and __who __taught __Naruto __this __much? __May be __is __the __Fox __doing?__"_ Kakashi's astonishment was comprehensible. The water chakra control exercise didn't require that much chakra form the user, but the concentration and focus that it demanded to work were insane. Subconsciously, Naruto had to control the water tentacles with his chakra and his own mind while dodging the attacks. It not just divided the chakra in one's body, but also divided the brain's attention in different functions at the same time. The fact that the tentacles were controlled automatically by Naruto's brain without his control over it added new heights of difficulty.

Sakura was totally awe. She knew, while she hasn't done it herself, that the chakra control exercise that Naruto was doing was really difficult and really taxing to do.

Sasuke, in the other hand, was furious. _"__Not __only __Sakura, __but __Naruto __too. __When __these __worms __started __to __gain __such __skills __and __power? __I __deserve __it __more __than __them. __I __suppose __that __is __a __good __thing __that __I __am __in __this __team __after __all, __because __when __I __get __my __Sharingan, __their __strength __will __add __to __my __own.__"_ His characteristic arrogant smirk twisted to something more sinister.

It seemed that Naruto noticed the new arrivals because he stopped his dodging while the tentacles return to heir natural calm water state. Removing his blindfold, the blond jumped out the water to approach the group.

"I assume that you are our jounin sensei." Stated Naruto.

"I assume that you are my third wayward student." Said Kakashi with one of his _one__eye__smile._

Kakashi stared at him for a couple of seconds before smiling again. "Please come here, we have things to discuss." He said while sitting on the ground. The genins followed suit.

"Alright, just you to know Naruto, thanks to that stunt that you pulled you and your team would have failed my test and you three would have been sent to the academy." THAT got their attentions immediately. "Don't worry, I only would this when genins don't pass my test, and so far, you haven't take it yet."

"Sensei, how many teams had you evaluated?"

"With you, more or less 9."

"How many had you passed?"

"None." He answered a way too happily.

"What kind of test do you use?" asked Sakura totally horrified.

"Don't worry about that. I know for sure that, even without my test, you would have failed." Again answered Kakashi with his cheerful smile.

The protests from Sakura and Sasuke commenced at the same time, while Naruto was silently staring at Kakashi, something that the jounin noted, trying to decipher a hidden meaning to all this. _"__A __shame __for __him,__"_ though Kakashi, _"__I__'__m __just __having __my __fun.__"_

"Don't worry. Instead to give you a test that you would have failed for sure, I am going to do something different this time."

The three of then could not held back the shiver that run through their spines when Kakashi smiled again. The teens could have sworn that for a moment, the sky darkened and lighting crossed the clearing where they were at. The fact that was a really sunny day didn't help their assumptions of a genjutsu being involved.

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><p>Two months had pass ever since team seven was formed. Kakashi, true to his fashion, established some ground rules for them. First, both Sakura and Naruto had to teach Sasuke tree climbing, water walking, kunai and shuriken balancing exercise. They weren't taught anything else only Sasuke completely mastered these exercises. It irked Naruto that Sasuke managed it even faster than him did, but he never voiced his thoughts of the matter. What pissed Naruto more was the fact that Kakashi was giving the emo-queen private tutoring after each day of training was called off.<p>

The second rule that they had was that they need to complete at least 10 D ranked missions per day during two weeks. If for any reason they didn't reach this goal, they had to start the count again. It annoying them because they have to restart like four times after they have like 10 or 11 days already in the sack.

A good thing about the normally boring D ranked missions was the way Kakashi use the opportunity to train. Naruto still remembered that first time they took the amazing and exciting mission (please, note the sarcasm) of… fence painting.

(Flashback)

Team seven was on the backyard of Mrs. Noriko´s house. She was a retired civilian council member and, as such, had a huge house with an equally huge yard surrounded by a big yellow fence. Their job was to paint it. It normally would take like 2/3 of the day to finish the job but Kakashi had something in mind.

"Okay, most of the time, D ranked missions are considered a bother and just cheap way too build teamwork on the team. But it was not always like this; before it was used as one of the most useful tools of training. Watch…"

And with that, Kakashi opened a can of paint to put his extended open palm on the surface of the gooey liquid. To the awe of the student, when the jounin took of his hands of the paint, a perfect orb of the pain of the size of a basketball ball stuck on his palm. Standing up, the sensei approached the fence and touching it with the paint orb, Kakashi pushed a little bit. Immediately, the paint spread it self in a big section of the fence while Kakashi's palm was extended facing the fence without touching it. When the self-painting liquid stop, a section of the fence was perfectly paint, even better that it would have been with a brush or a roll and it looked like a the careful work of and artist. Kakashi show his palm to his students to show them that the palm itself was licked off clean, with no sing of any paint in it.

"Impressive, isn't it? Now is your turn. This is how you do it…"

(End of flashback)

That day they finished like in two hours the whole fence. Kakashi conveniently forgot to tell them that it was freaking taxing. When they finished they felt like they had been training 24 hours straight without any kind of rest or paused. Kakashi did warn them that at first it will feel like that. It wasn't too chakra consuming, but it put a lot of strain on their chakra coils and their bodies.

Similar principles were used on other chor…missions, like taking out the mud from stored water or local ponds.

Sasuke, Naruto noted, had been even broodier than before. The fact that he needed that both Sakura and Naruto himself, whose he saw as inferior to him, to help him with some exercises was a sore blow to his ego. The Uchiha hadn't forgiven the blond, not that Naruto cared, for almost jeopardizing entirely his ninja career and his unquestionable path of power to destroy Itachi. And to add salt to the injury, he was having troubles during the spars. Even with Kakashi secret extra help, of five spars in a row, he won to against Sakura, lose two and let one as a tied. With Naruto, he even couldn't touch him losing all five matches. Sasuke, of course got strong really fast and, when he though that he had totally outclassed Sakura at least, the pinknette surprised her team and sensei coming back stringer too. Sasuke seemed to forget that he was not the only one growing in skill and power.

Naruto personally though that, at the moment, Sakura was more of a challenge than Sasuke. She even managed to win 1/5 against him, something that pissed the Uchiha even more.

Is Naruto had to guest, he would say that their team was the strongest overall, even if Hinata could wipe out the floor with them singlehandedly.

And that's why they were on a high C rank mission at the moment. Nothing too important, just a currier mission to the southern borders from the Fire Country capital. It was a message from the governor to the local Mayor regarding something that the team didn't knew squad about.

While they were jumping to tree to tree, Naruto was thinking over the meeting that he and Hinata had two days before going out of the village.

(Flashback)

Both Hinata and Naruto were enjoying the sunset in their favourite sport in the park when they noticed that they were alone in the whole area, which was really strange at those hours.

"Hinata-chan…" said Naruto without changing in the slightest his position, resting his head on Hinata´s lap while Hinata´s hand caressed his hair tenderly.

"I know Naruto-kun…"

The message was clear, they were not alone.

As cue, and old man with a cane, with half of his face and upper body, right arm included, covered in bandages. The old man with tan skin had and "X" scar on his chin.

"Good evening, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hinata. My name is Shimura Danzo and I had a proposition for you. If you are interested I will like to have a couple of minutes with you."

(End of flashback)

Danzo knew that they knew that someone had cast a passive privacy illusion that had affected anyone that was not Hinata or Naruto. What Danzo didn't realize was that they also knew that five highly trained ROOT agents were hidden observing everything.

Naruto was forced out of his thoughts when a rain of sembons fell upon them. Thankfully, well placed Substitutions with nearby logs (_And __The __Log __said: __Do __not __fear __thy __use __of __me __because __I __will __save __thee._). But it was not the end. Without paused Kakashi was surrounded by what looked like rock human sized dolls that were attacking him in rapid succession.

Out of nowhere, a man that looked like he was in his mid thirties, with curly brown messed up hair and sadistic glee in his black eyes was positioned in attacking form with an o- katana pointing towards Sasuke. In a blink of an eyed, the man was in front of Sasuke, who was looking a way to escape, ready to inflict a lethal blow.

Sasuke's eyes lighted with and idea and, immediately, substituted his body with the nearest object that he found.

Kakashi, who had destroy the rock dolls somehow, watched with horror what happened.

The nearest object that Sasuke took for his substitution was not and object but his females teammate, Haruno Sakura, who now was impaled trough the stomach by the enemy katana with the tip pocking out from her back.

Kakashi didn't saw any sing of remorse in Sasuke's eye but contempt and… satisfaction? A though crossed the shocked sensei: _"__Sasuke, __what __have __you __done?__"_

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><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen was facing twelve ANBU agents in his office. These were not normal ANBU, they where the Hokage most trusted ninja, the ones that he gave the orders that he didn't give to others. He put his life in their hands without question and he knew that they will move heaven and earth to fulfil their tasks.<p>

"It seems that my traitorous student had not been wasting his time." Said the Sarutobi referring to the report that Yuurei had gave him. "During the next Chuunin Exams, Orochimaru, with his new hidden village, along side with Suna, will stage a campaign to destroy Konoha. Sadly, we cannot cancel the exams now. Steps are being taken to set this opportunity as trap for them and to minimize the causalities. Is possible that I don't survive, and thus, I will give you a last mission. These, " said the Hokage while passing them some folders, "are your targets. The enemy has inside help and we cannot let this pass. During the invasion, your mission is to eliminate them and make it look like it was our enemies doing."

"Now, this is what we are going to do…"

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Kudos to who can say from where I took out The Log Commandment Phrase. Clue: is a NaruHina time travel fanfiction.

Loved it? Hated it? R&R.


	11. Without words

**AN: **authoir notes at the end.

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Without words.<strong>

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><p><em>"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." – <em>Eleanor Roosevelt

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><p>Yamanaka Fu was as far as you can get from the term 'dumb blond'; the same could be said for the rest of the mind walker's clan. He usually thought things over and over again, to find hidden pieces of information, enemy's weaknesses or maybe to find flaws in his own actions so he could correct them for future references.<p>

Danzo's meeting with two freshly graduated genins was his current pet project. As per order, six carefully selected ROOT agents surrounded the park after the casting of a mild compulsion illusion so nobody, except those they allowed, stumble with something they shouldn't, surrounded the area for the meeting. The challenge in the situation was to be close enough to react on time just in case something bad happen, Danzo's legendary paranoia was always present, but far enough to give then some privacy, or at least to give the targets some sort of privacy feeling. Since one of the targets was a Hyuuga anonymity wasn't an option. So, how resolve the security issue? They needed to know, through the targets speech pattern, if they would change to the offensive at any given moment.

Fu himself came with the solution. With a modified variant of one his clan mind techniques, Fu interconnected the part of the brain of the six agents and their brain section for vision. The result was that the sum of all these senses amplified, in a certain radius, increasing in a 360% their hearing range, modulation and frequency. Of course, after the ordeal, Fu was left with a killing migraine and greatly low in chakra all thanks to the information income that he received. The technique itself was an invention of Yamanaka Inoichi, the current Clan Head. Fu had always considered Inoichi's intellect to be one of kind, and he always had respected the Clan Head. Above all, Fu had always been wary of Inoichi because, in Fu's eyes, the man was a monster. In the mind's realm, nobody was at Yamanaka Inoichi league.

The meeting itself was short and, in Fu's opinion, fruitless; his leader Danzo though otherwise.

The bandaged leader introduced himself and went directly to the root of the matter (no pun intended). Fu had to congratulate both teen's skepticism and wariness toward Danzo. A ninja should never thrust anybody or anything at first glace, always looking for different layers of deception. In the end, both parties were left with a compromise. Danzo gave them time to think about it, no more than a week, and later they will give him an answer. Sadly, both the Hyuuga and Uzumaki teams went on a C rank mission outside Konoha so they had to wait for their return.

That had been 5 days ago and exactly 7 seven days since the meeting. Now, the only thing they could do was to plot and wait.

* * *

><p>It had been a restless week for one Sarutobi Hiruzen. He had to kill his own emotions during his private session with his most trusted ANBU. They had to plot the demises of some traitors within Konoha Walls, some of them in both, the civilian and ninja, councils. It was never good for his health to order assassinations upon his own people. But for Konoha's security, as a Hokage he would crushed the threats to his home without batting an eye.<p>

But that was just the beginning.

The day after the meeting, the Third received more bad news for Uzuki Yugao. Her report didn´t help his sour mood. Approximately a month ago, Team 2, in charge of Nonayamo Rikka, went to the Land of Waves to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna so he could arrive safely to his house. A simple C rank mission.

Team 2 was one of the three genins cells from the last year graduation class that was active. The genins, Ikki, Ringo and Akito, were not the best genins around, but they were not slouches either, and Rikka had trained them really hard. They may not be able to participate in the chuunin exams but they would have received a field promotion base on their high success in their missions. It was likely that they will never reach jounin, but could become tobunketsu jounin within a couple of years.

And they hadn't report in almost a month. Yugao went to investigate what was the problem, fearing something was wrong. Their fears had some merit. It seemed that the client had lied over the difficulty of the mission. The Shipment Industry Tycoon, a man called Gatou, had taken control over the Land of Waves and converted it to his main business quarters. Gatou, had been using intimidation and violent tactics to submit the Waves population under his control. Gatou, as Yugao had discovered, had an underworld business, from where he gained most of his money, and was using his company as a smoke screen. Tazuna, of course, represent a problem for him because the bridge that the old drunk was building would have destroyed his economic monopoly. Somehow, the tyrant had been informed of Tazuna´s plan to get help from a ninja village and thus, he did the same.

According to Yugao, the country was in such deplorable state that it was possible that Tazuna couldn´t be able to afford a higher ranked mission, and now, because a misunderstanding over money, Team 2 had gone MIA, most likely KIA. If Tazuna had been honest over his problems, a deal would have been made to both parts benefit, but now it was too late.

But the icing of the cake came a day later. A the same time both Kakashi and Kurenai´s teams have encountered difficulties not foreseen beforehand; yet, Kakashi´s report was more concerning. Uchiha Sasuke had used one of his teammates as a meat shield against an unexpected enemy´ onslaught. It was a miracle that Sasuke was still alive because, under shinobi martial law, he should have been executed on the spot. He suspected that Kakashi was taking in consideration the reaction of the ninja council.

In the end, the Third had sent Gai´s team as a backup to Kakashi and Asuma´s team to Kurenai. The problem with Sasuke would have to wait until their return.

* * *

><p>He, Nejibana no Nanashi, had never believed in fairy tales, or myths, or any religion that he knew about. Being an orphan and the pariah of his home village, being forced to survived eating from garbage tanks or even going into the woods to hunt something, anything, that could be eatable and, when he was lucky, find some fish in the close river that was at the far edge of the woods, all these hardships had killed any ounce of faith that he may had have.<p>

But it was okay for him, he was alive and that was that counted. Soon, he was able to do something with this life and the village's academy gave him the oportunity.

His village ancestors were known centuries ago as the most feared and powerful sword users. The only clan that could outmatched then in a sword fight was the Uzumaki thanks to their unique sealing arts, but in a straight sword fight, his ancestors, the great Otori, were above anybody. That's why they were other clans´ targets, and sooner, rather than later, they were outnumbered 20 to 1. The Otori gave a good fight, destroying more or lest 73% of their enemy army, but the odds were totally against them. Hundreds of enemies were around and only 20 or so of the Otori were left, but surrender was not in their minds; they didn't knew what surrender was. And then, the unexpected happened. Their arch nemesis, the Uzumaki, came to their rescue.

After the _Blood Moon Battle,_ the rest of the Otori, in gratitude and as a symbol to their saviors, swore then and there that they would never take the sword or any other weapon to harm another living being, except in self-defense, and as a witness of their oath they buried all their precious swords, other weapons and all the scroll techniques that they have at hand. All except one: **Kawarene**, Otori Shigeko's own meitou (sword with name). Shigeko, being the daughter of their late leader, drove her sword in the ground and, with time, build a town around it, using the sword as its center, as a monument to their ancestor's lineage. And all of it had been forgotten with the pass of time.

After that, with centuries of practice, the whole town became known as the most versatile, no-combat, earth technique users. They become famous in creating earth, and sometimes clay or iron, golems capable of some independent thinking with the purpose of construction at grand scale and the village defense.

They had many attacks during their history, but they had defended themselves really well. Nanashi wanted to be part of that. The academy was the way to become a Golem Master. And, to his joy, the young lad discovered that he had a great talent for it. Thanks to his poor, street kid, origins, he had some troubles with his classmates, and sometimes teachers, giving him a hard time, but he managed.

Then, it happened. One day, he was wondering through the village when he ended in front the family sword, Kawarene, still shining, looking as new as it's forging, while being fixed in the ground with the pointing edge buried. So many people, local and from abroad, had tried to take out the sword but nobody could. It was like the sword didn't want to be wielded, or worse, it was cursed. Nanashi, even to this day, didn't know why he did what he did. Without any clue about his action, the kid took the sword by the hilt and, without any effort from his part, was able to take it out.

A couple of seconds later the earth trembled. A deep sound was heard, like the wing becoming louder during a typhoon, Nanashi never figured it out. All of a suddenly staying conscious became a battle, one that he was losing. Before he blacked out totally, he kind of saw, quite blurred, how a woman and a man, with two kids that looked like were their children, appeared out of thin air.

He woke up three days later, in the crude harmful reality, both literally and figuratively. He had read somewhere that _"… hope is the worst of tortures; it encourages the victim to endure it all, the pain, the sadness, the despair, till the end…"_ Now, he could understand the fact behind those depressing, pessimist words.

The persons that he thought that he had imagined to appear from thin air were real. They were his family. The parents that, until them, he thought had died or abandoned him to his luck. The latter was close enoguh.

Both adults, knowing that somebody was looking for them, create a new type of golem. His parents, no, his creators were geniuses on their their own flesh and some blood of their newborn son, they created a flesh and blood golem and left him behind as bait while they use some kind of dimensional sealing technique to hide. It worked.

Somehow, the enemy found them and tried to kidnap them but it didn't work so they "killed" them so they could not inform anybody of the events. They were ninjas from Iwagakure. Sadly, during the confrontation one of the ninjas used a weird chakra ninjutsu causing an energy backslash that messed up the dimensional seal, preventing then to come back to this reality. The moment Nanashi touched the sword a link was formed with his creators that made possible their return.

After that everything went downhill for the kid. One part of his town wanted to tear him apart so they could see what made him thick, others want to know how he was able to pull out the legendary Kawarene when other more powerful, important, more trained and, the most important, human, failed.

That was the root of his problems, they didn't considered him a human, even though physically he was as normal as the guy next to him. He was an anomaly, because somehow he had developed a soul. His so called family, his creators, didn't raise a finger to defend him. It was as they were ashamed of what they had done. They didn't saw him as a son because they took their son with them; they even had a daughter too. They just saw him as a weapon, a tool most likely, that had outlived his usefulness.

Nanashi run. He run as far as he could as fast as he could, a fact that saved his life. Anyone may call it luck or coincidence, others will call it karma in action, but the fact was that the same day Nanashi run away a ninja village invaded his homeland and totally destroyed it. From very far Nanashi saw something that he thought didn't exist till that moment: the fire demon monster cat, Nibi no Nekomata, incinerating his village and everybody in it after the owner's army, ninjas from Kumogakure no Sato, finished the survivors. Until that day, he didn´t believe in the afterlife. From that day he knew the truth, Kami, Heaven and Hell, Demons, Spirits, did existed. They were in a constant battle and this life was their playground. And they, the human beings, were just part of the landscape.

He felt true horror that day, totally helpless, angry at the world, angry at the powers that be, at himself for being weak, for being something that nobody loved or wanted to be happy with. And then, an unexpected give came to him. Somehow, Kawarene appeared in his hand.

Confused, Nanashi was, so to speak, illuminated. The sword, that through the centuries since its creation had gained a consciousness of sort, bumped on his head the memories of its previous owners. It was a painful, head splitting process, but, for the first time, Nejibana no Nanashi didn't feel like Fate's bitch anymore.

Having those memories helped him to understand that he was weak, so he trained like his life depended on it, because, in the end, it was. In his new way of life, he became a bounty hunter, of rogue samurai and ninjas alike; bandits were just target practice for him. In one of those adventures he meet the twins: Mara and Maru, who somehow had learn ninjutsu on their own and had became bandits for survival, though they worked alone. After that they became quite successful in hunting down some random ninjas, rogue or not, with bounties without attracting too much attention to themselves.

In another timeline, in another place, the trio would have been hunted down by Kakuzu of Kusa, the Bounty Hunter from Akatsuki, to cash their own bounties, with was quite a lot, to fund the criminal organization.

But this was not that timeline. In this one, by a twist of fortune really, they had encountered a group of genin with their jounin sensei form Konohagakure. They immediately recognized the valuable face of the infamous "_Sharingan no Kakashi_". With teamwork honed through an unhealthy amount of life treating situations, the three vagabonds did a synchronized attack, first to sidetrack the jounin from his student and to also deal with the minor inconveniences. It partially worked.

Nanashi first decided to deal with the kid with the Uchiha clan symbol on his clothes. He heard that the clan had been totally eliminated but he didn't want to chance it with any survivor coming out of the closet. (The irony of the situation cannot escape to any of the witnesses of the confrontation).

The swordsman knew that ninja were tricky, that didn't have any kind of honor, or were too morally educated, but hi frankly didn't expect that the little bastard used his own teammate as a physical scapegoat. All of a sudden the ninja world became even sadder that he thought possible.

Before he could react, the little bastard started to made hand sings and then inhaled some air before throwing through his mouth a huge fireball that didn't look too friendly to him and that was approaching uncomfortably fast. He couldn't believed, the kid was not only willing to use his pinknette teammate, who was still impaled by his sword and still in shock because what happened, but also was going to roast her alone with him.

A punch that came from nowhere pulled him out of his surprised. The other genin, a blond kid with azure dark eyes, cut him with a kunai while taking his injured teammate. It seemed that not all ninjas were such bastards.

After putting the girl, that was bleeding a lot, against a three while giving her something to stop the bleed for the moment (a piece f clothes on the wound on both sides secured with ninja wire) the blond instantly started to download a barrage o kunais on Nanashi. The brat, of course, had slipped some explosive tags to mix, but Nanashi was not an amateur dealing with ninja so, before the tags had the time to fully activate, Nanashi cut them in half, destroying the explosives. He actually cut also all the airborne kunais in his direction, that started to fail to the ground in pieces, with a swing of his sword.

The kid was immediately on guard after seeing the easiness with Nanashi cut through reinforced steel. The Uchiha brat, the bastard, also didn't waste any time and started to cast another fireball technique, but this time he couldn't manage it.

Nanashi, being closer to the dark haired boy, attacked making a deep cut on this chest and another on his right leg. He was about to kill him when the blond kid again launched an explosive-kunai-shuriken combo towards him, which was a feint because Nanashi sense danger behind him. Moving on pure reflexes, the vagabond dodge in time a lighting covered hand attached to Hatake Kakashi's body.

Wondering what had happened to his companion he saw Mara, totally unconscious, on the ground with worst to wear. Not too far behind was the beheaded body of Maru.

With his max speed, the vagabond took Mara and Maru's body before Kakashi could reach him, and disappeared.

Later there will be time to mourn the loss of a love one.

* * *

><p>Haruno Sakura was staring at the old wood on the ceiling of the old abandoned cabin that the injured group had found. Her thoughts were dark and somber, and she felt like she had been defeated without a second thought by a mighty opponent.<p>

How this could have happened? All the training that she had done, all that progress, it have been all for nothing? At the moment the soft hands of Naruto were covered in an eerie green warm light at mere inches of her wound on her half uncovered torso. Giving the concentrated blond a quick glance she confirmed that he was totally focusing on her well being. Her wound. She had been lucky, as Naruto had said, since the sword just grazed the upper part of her stomach and didn't harm her spine.

It had been a surprised that they had a medic-nin in their team. During the team presentation, Naruto had only given away his name, refusing to say anything else about himself or his goal. They pressed about it, but he then quoted Hatake-sensei´s own bastardized presentation. When they arrived to their new accommodations, the blond hadn't loose time in attending her before declaring that he was training to become a medic nin. Sakura had witnessed something that she wasn't even aware of, of a rare moment when Hatake Kakashi showed undisguised shock.

Sakura's thoughts drifted to her other teammate, if she could call as such. It was clear to all of them that his actions had been intentionally executed. Not only using her as a meat shield but also wanting to roast her along with the enemy. It had not been for Naruto she would have been carbonized at the moment. Why? In Konoha, a ninja village that focused so much on teamwork and thrusting your comrades with your life, the thought of treason was installed with hatred and revulsion. In the Leaf, to call somebody a traitor was the highest of insults, that not even Naruto, with his _questionable_ reputation, was called as such. An insult reserved to the likes of Orochimaru or Uchiha Itachi.

Sakura wondered if all the Uchiha blood was rotten like Sasuke seemed to act. And some deep level, the kunoichi knew that she was being unfair to the late clan, but at the moment, her mind was looking a scapegoat to blame so she could direct all her anger and self-frustration to it and focus on healing.

It would be later that Sakura would understand what those feelings truly meant and where all the roots of her problems laid.

* * *

><p>Kakashi wondered how things ended so wrong. In front of his eyes, his start pupil betrayed his comrades without a hint of remorse. Why? Why Sasuke couldn't be more like Obito?<p>

This were the dark thoughts in the one eyed jounin´s mind when Maito Gai with his genin team stepped in the cabin lead by Kakashi´s dog summon, Pakkun.

Gai´s serious face said more than the words could.

* * *

><p>Aburame Shino was, as usual for members of his clan, pondering about his latter findings.<p>

First all, the mission that they had taken, a simple C rank mission to deal with some bandits at the eastern borders of the Land of Fire, had went pear shape from the start. Instead of a dozen of bandits to deal with it, they were actually a 150 bandit's army. Their leader, Akisame Yazo, had organized a coup d'état against the local mayor to gain control over the lands.

With backup of team 10, they had been deal with them with extreme prejudiced after discovered that they had kidnapped and rape a lot of women and, in some cases, children from nearby towns to keep the villagers in check and silenced.

In another place, in another timeline, Danzo´s root had discovered the bandit's army just before the rebellion and, without the acknowledgement from the Hokage or the Daimyo, had dealt with them in an under covered extermination mission. These were not the circumstances at hand.

Shino had to recognize that Kiba had outdone himself with his animal instincts and sharp senses. Without him, tracking down the bandits would have taken a lot longer. Sadly, the same animal tendencies manifested themselves with their female companions, despite Kurenai´s efforts to limits his…hormones.

It was a bloodbath, literally. They had ended totally covered in blood, gore, and other human fluids that Shino didn't want to think about. It was curious; it had been the first kill for both sets of genin, as far as Shino knew. He had noticed that both Chouji and Ino had frozen momentarily after they had kill but continued with the task ad hand nonetheless; later Kureai herself talked to her in private as Asuma did with Chouji, the others were fine.

It was in their way back were things started to become… interesting. Shino, being the cautious ninja that he is, had tagged everybody in the mission just in case of emergencies, and was thanks to this fact that he was privy of some interesting facts. During a moment of rest, Ino and Hinata had a conversation that caught his attention. It was not the words that were used that he took noticed, but the intend which they were used.

If he understood correctly, Ino had met with Naruto and had had a friendly date with the blond. It was obvious, at least to him, and rather logical that Hinata and Naruto had something going between them, and thus, Hinata´s intimidation act toward Ino was understandable. But there was glaring fact that Hinata hadn't used any words that could be considered a threat, yet, Ino had been affected by something because she was considerable paler after it. What had happened? The possibility of an illusion technique was there, but his insects would have pick of if some technique had been use.

And there was Shino, pondering about the mystery. Maybe Hinata had a new sort of Clan technique that could induce certain feelings in the target? It was too farfetched but in the ninja word the impossibilities were the norm. But he couldn't close his mind to other, more probable options. Maybe Hinata had something over Ino´s head and she knew it? Extortion, after all, is common weapon of the shinobi, and kunoichis tend to be more skillful with it.

Shino, since that moment, decided to closer attention to his teammate. A mystery was laying there to be uncovered and Shino was up to the challenge.

* * *

><p>He didn't know when or how it had happened. Somehow he, Akaimichi Chouji, started to have feelings for Haruno Sakura. Not even Chouji understood why. He knew that he had a crush on Ino before, but Chouji wasn't blind. The Akaimichi thought that, with Sasuke out of the picture, maybe she would start to notice him, but it hadn't happened, despite that he was getting closer as a friend to her for a while. No, instead of the things to start looking up to him, Ino had set her eyes on their other mutual friend, Nara Shikamaru.<p>

It was possible that not even Ino realized that she had chosen the lazy friend as her next crush, and that pained Chouji even more. The worst, he couldn't blame Shikamaru, since the chubby ninja knew that the Nara was perfect match for the blond, and vice-versa.

In another timeline, in another place, Chouji would have decided to stick with his hopes and try to wind over the Yamanka´s heart. Later, after the early beginnings of the Fourth War, Ino would have started to notice Chouji as a boyfriend material after realizing that Sasuke was a total bastard and Shikamaru was totally hooked with Sabaku no Temari. Sadly, Chouji would have died protecting Ino from a great scale attack from the White Zetsu´s army. Later, Ino would have died taking down as many enemies as she could.

But this was not there and then. Chouji, decided not to wasted more effort in something that was fruitless. With his last decision, the Akamichi vowed to himself that he would ask Sakura out after their return to the village.

* * *

><p>Many people judge her sensei immediately thanks to his…unique… outfit. Tenten didn't blame then, but it was a sad fact that no many people, aside his colleagues, knew the real person behind the creepy Maito Gai façade.<p>

And right now, Tenten was analyzing the man's behavior and body language while Hatake Kakashi was briefing him of the actual status of their botched mission. The weapon specialist knew that she was only seeing what their sensei want her, and her teammates, to see. Still, it was fascinating nonetheless.

Taking her eyes of the man, the girl watched how a blond genin, Uzumaki Naruto if she recalled correctly, was using ittoujutsu (medical techniques) on the wounded pinknette with the calm and the expertise of a medical pro. This was a surpised, something that she also noticed in Gai-sensei's body language, because, as far as she knew, they haven´t been a medical spacialist nin in the last three graduation class. And it seemed that the blonde was good at it.

In one of the corners of the room was tied the supposedly genius, and it seems a traitor too, of the current tear graduation, Uchiha Sasuke glaring everybody else. It was really sad, but she wondered why they haven't executed him yet. Even with the Uchiha´s genes on his blood, bloodline or not it wasn't useful if the bastard would turn on them at his early convenience.

It pissed her off so many times. Orphans like her work their butts off to get where they where, and yet, when a random asshole comes with a flashy bloodline capable of turn their crap into gold or something alike, they were treated as geniuses and are given to them everything on a silver plate. Sometimes, those assholes can't even hold a kunai straight!

But yeah, nobody care about it. Sometimes she even wondered why she was attracted to Neji so much. Yeah, he was handsome, was an incredibly fighter, true that he had a cold attitude but that gave him a bad body charm, and… but that was beside the point. If it hadn't been that Lee was already brainwashed by Gai-sensei creepy religion before she noticed, Tenten was sure that she would have fallen for him completely.

Tenten, was playing (a.k.a. training her reflexes and dexterity) with a kunai when the cabin shook. An explosion occurred somewhere nearby, meaning that they were under raid.

The enemies, whomever they were, had found them and they were out for their blood.

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**AN: **Nas! Its been a while, isn´t it? Sorry for the belateness. This chapter was done almost one month ago, but my beta dissapeared without a traced and let me waiting. So this chapter is not betaed yet, but i decided that it was a wait long enough. By the way, most you were right that the Log Religion was one of the epic invension of Third Fang, but the phrase I used was from "This time as a Namikaze" by **TwiceMarked . **One of the best time travle naruhina fics that i had read in a while. If you dont know it, then go and read it, you will not be dissapointed.

I'm marvelled by the ammount of readers that had add this to their favorite/alert lists. Thank you all by your suport. I also thanks those that had take their time to review, especially **devilzxknight86**, who, knowing or not, had inspire me many times and had gave me good ideas. THANKS MAN. All of you that hadnt read his work go and do so.

Something especial about this chapter is, as the title implied, didn´t used any form of dialogue. I'm trying to improve my wrinting skils trying different things, hopefully is well accepted. But if you don´t like it please say so, I cannot do this better fro you if you dont say what is good and what not.

By ythe way, the quote used by Nanashi is from Friederitch Nietzche (i think that that is how is written).

Some good news, next chapter will be REALLY soon.

R&R


	12. At the Brink of Insanity: As a ghost

**AN: **HAPPY XMAS!

My original plan was to publish two short chapters before the end of the year a lot sooner, but my hands worked on their own and decided that it was better a whole bigger one. This means that it will try to complete the next chapter, that is a quater done already, before Janaury, but is not a promise. I will try though.

I want to thank all of you that had review, and those that added this to their favorite/alert list. Is thanks to all of you that I get inspiration to write this, specially those that take their time to actually comment their opinions. THANKS YOU LOT! Now, enjoy this chapter, hopefully you will had as much a blast i had writting it^^

NOTE: This is NOT BETAed. My Beta is on holiday so this version is full of errors. Later i will put a cleaner one.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: At the Brink of Insanity: As a ghost, walking through the edges of reason.<strong>

* * *

><p><em>"I <em>_restore __myself __when __I'm __alone."_ Marilyn Monroe

* * *

><p><em>You tell me this will be the last night feeling like this." <em>Skillet

* * *

><p>Naruto was loosing it, little by little. He was feeling cold. It was like his heart was covered by a thick sheet of frost. It had been a while, feeling like this. He had almost forgotten the bitter taste of loneliness.<p>

Distance was a problem that neither he nor Hinata had planned for, not like this. Their link, that special connection they had had until now, was dead. Naruto had to use all his will power to control himself and not run back to Konoha, to the security and warmness of Hinata-chan, his Hime, arms. He also had to use all his acting skills to avoid that his team notice his… inner turmoil. When had he become so dependant/attached to another person? At some level, he felt happy that he had somebody to turn, to love and be loved, somebody that accepted him with all his faults. But it scared him, what would happen if the rejected him later on, if she walk away, leaving him alone as everybody else? What would happen if she dies? Naruto knew there and then that it something alike happened, then life would lose all meaning, he will be crushed and the pointed end of the kunai will become his wrists new best friend.

But he didn't want to go further through that tangent, so he focused his mind in their current situation. How Hina-hime did have known? How did she was right about Sasuke? It was because she had seen something in him with those beautiful moony eyes of her? Hinata was really goo ad judging other people characters, something that he knew all to well.

Then, why he was feeling so uneasy? There were some small things that didn't add up, and it was bothering him.

First, how Hinata had obtained that new seal for her clan? She had said that it was part of the deal that they had with Kyuubi, but, which were the terms for it? What about the evolution of her dojutsu? All that she said about it was that her mother, a complete genius in her opinion, had researched it and had developed it almost entirely, and it was she, Hinata, who had completed that researched. How an when?

And lastly, it was how she knew him better than himself. It was like she was in his head. A pause. Hinata could, quite literally, control anyone's life at her whim. Was he also under her control? Nah. Through their link, Naruto had felt the truthfulness and the intensity of Hinata's emotions toward him, and they were genuine, that he knew. If she was totally in love with him, as he felt that she was, then she would not brainwashed him. Right? RIGHT?

Naruto noticed that he had done everything he could with Sakura's wound. Standing up from his kneeling position, he took Sakura's shaking hand to help her to stand on her feet as well.

"Hey, Sakura you should…"

BOOM!

Various explosions occurred at once, if he had heard correctly. Immediately, the blond had hide his presence while the pinknette set herself in a defensive position with to kunais in her hands, the Guard of the Mantis stance, if he recall correctly.

Not too far, both Kakashi-sensei and Maito Gai were scanning the whole room waiting a sudden attack from anywhere.

"How did they find us?" Naruto heard Kakashi asked rhetorically. He was sure that the one eyed jounin had an idea of what had happened. Naruto too had his suspicions.

"I think that they had followed me and my time. How they had fooled Neji's Byakugan, that I don't know. It is so unyouthful of me." Answered the green clad jounin voicing Naruto's conclusion.

"Gai-sensei!" yelled Neji. His tone of voice was full of worry and apprehension, something definitely not normal in the usually stoic genin. "Something is happening with my Byakugan. I cannot activate it." THAT brought the attention from everybody.

"Neji, what do you mean?" asked a concerned Gai.

"I had tried to activate my Byakugan the different ways I had been taught, and none are working."

"This is not good…" started saying Kakashi, who, by now, had his left eye uncovered letting it show the Sharingan in all his glory. Naruto was too surprised by this, as Sasuke was, but for different reasons.

"_How __does __he __have the __Sharingan? __He __is __not __an __Uchiha, __I__'__m __sure __of __it.__"_ Was Sasuke's train of thought, fuming about it in all his emo glory.

"I cannot active the Sharingan." That was not Gai wanted to hear. Being Kakashi's eternal rival, he knew some facts that most of people didn't, like how his Sharingan eye could not be turned off and that's why he had it covered most of the time. The fact that his eye was not working mean a couple of things. "Everybody, try to mould chakra and tell me if you succeed"

The genins thought that it was a weird request, but did as they were told. Soon it was clear that is was not a dumb petition.

"I cannot do it!" was the general response, except Lee who didn't try for obvious reasons.

"Wait, where is Naruto?" Sakura asked. She hadn't heard if he had succeeded or not. Nobody could find him.

But before they could continue their research, another explosion occurred in the entrance of the wood house that they were in destroying it completely.

"Hyuuga, watch out!" yelled Sasuke suddenly.

Before Neji could react, a familiar looking sword was about to relieve his head from his shoulders when a sudden orange clad forearm stopped the edge of the sword. Rock Lee didn't lose time; quickly, he repelled the sword and went to the owner of the weapon to unleash a series of punches and kicks to separate him from his teammate.

Gai, with his superior skills, was next to Lee in a sec and later was joined by Kakashi. In front of them was the swordsman that before had attacked team seven.

* * *

><p>Uzumaki Naruto was still in the same room as everybody else. Actually, he was in the same exact place that he was before everything went down south.<p>

"_**Ninja Art: Ghost Mode, Activate."**_

It had been a success. Naruto, alongside Hinata, had a total control over his chakra.

But, what he had done? You may ask. The principle is quite simple.

Let's take a samurai as an example. When they are no using their swords, they have it in their sheath. The same can be told of a ninja and his kunais, or almost any other weapon. But, for unknown reasons, ninjas don't apply this to one of their most fearsome weapons: their chakra.

In another timeline, in another place, Yuhi Kurenai had conceived something similar to this with the help of her start pupil, Hinata, but had died in the war before going too far with it. It was in this timeline that Hinata and Naruto had developed in tis totally, getting interesting, if welcome, side effects.

One of these secondary effects was that, while using Ghost Mode, the Byakugan could not see them. It was like they weren't there at all… like ghosts. The second thing, and one of the most useful, was that their bodies gained some…enhancements. First, and foremost, was that they gained strength and speed boost. Even more than what they would get of they actively pump their bodies with chakra. Also their senses were totally increased which took a lot of training to control and learn to cut off if necessary. Like in this occasion with Naruto's hearing and the enemies explosions. Using the Ghost Mode was a great way so save a lot of chakra and be efficient with their methods while working. The only drawback of the technique was that they could not use any other technique that involved chakra. Curiously, if they had one of said techniques activated, let's say a henge or the Byakugan, the technique stayed active. Other curious fact was that, while they could not use techniques while being _ghost,_ they could mould chakra with hand sings (they had tried without them, even the techniques they could use normally without the hand sings, but failed miserably); deactivating the ghost mode and calling their chakra in fractions of a second, they could use a technique and then "disappear" at any moment in less of the blink of an eye. It had required a total and perfect chakra control, but they had achieved it.

Using this new skill, both he and Hinata could erase their presence totally. Any sound their body made, any smell, anything was cut off. And thanks to their intensive chakra control they could activate it without a second thought, almost instantly. Using this skill both Hinata and Naruto, unknowingly, had set a new whole level in the stealth department and had created what will be in the future one of the most feared ninja techniques.

And thus, the legend of the _Cursed __Wind_ was born.

* * *

><p>Maito Gai was aware how other people regard him and his…antics. Who couldn't? His youthful personality, his incredible fashion sense and his irresistible looks was something that not many people could comprehend. That's why Kakashi was one of his eternal rivals, and one of his closest friends, the Cyclops could see pass a lot people rather easily.<p>

But Gai was fine with it. It made other underestimate him, it made him dangerous. And right know there was other reason why he could be considered even more dangerous: some random samurai wannabe was about to end the life of his, albeit not so youthful, student. Maito Gai was pissed, and it was never a good thing for whoever crossed his youthful path.

If Gai understood the situation correctly, then there chakra was somehow sealed. It meaned two things: first, some how they were in a dampening barrier that affected their chakra, and thus, the enemy was versatile in the Ways of the Monk; and second, they were facing at least two enemies and one them was hidden somewhere nearby and, most likely, was the responsible of the barrier. A plan formed in his head.

"Neji, Tenten! You two go and start looking for the other one of the enemy. It is possible that Uzumaki-san is looking for him. Lee, you will assist us, Kakashi and I, against this one."

"HAI, GAI-SENSEI!" responded in unison Team Gai. The Green Beautiful Beast of Konoha was totally proud of his team.

"Hey Kakashi, remember that mission that we have with Genma a couple of years ago in Rice Country?" asked Gai knowingly to his friend.

"Yeah." Said the silver haired jounin, a smile could be see outlined under his masks.

"Lee, as we practice!"

"Hai, Gai-sensei."

And just like that the battle started.

* * *

><p>Uchiha Sasuke was not an idiot. He knew that endangering the life of the daughter of a council member will help him lose the support that he had obtained so far from the civilian population, without taking in account the reaction of the shinobi side.<p>

In insight, Sasuke saw his early actions as totally stupid. He had acted impulsively, a bad habit that he need to deal with, and had taken his frustrations on the pinknette bitch. He could plead that he was under stress and had acted on instinct, and he didn't unintentionally use Sakura a meat shield.

He will be crossed as incompetent, but he preferred that rather than be considered a traitor and be beheaded/cremated on the spot, thank you very much.

Making his decision he swallowed his pride and did something that he would never do under normal circumstances: he asked the help from a former fangirl.

"Sakura, come. I have something important to tell you."

* * *

><p>Sakura was wondering where the heck went Naruto. He was next to her a second ago, thus how he had sneak out from her?<p>

But that was not the only thing that was in her mind. If she had guest correctly, she knew what was happening to their chakra and they where in a lot of trouble. That was her line of thought when she heard the voice of the last person that she wanted to hear.

"Sakura, come. I have something important to tell you."

"What do YOU want?" she asked, with displeasure rolling in waves in her tone of voice.

"For the looks of it, you have an idea of what is happening and, if my instincts are right, you need all the help that you can get." Said the Uchiha, unfazed by her attitude toward him. He needed to be patient if he wanted his plan to succeed.

Sakura paused. Sasuke was right, if whatever was happening was what she suspected then she will need all the help, including _his_ to get out alive in one piece.

"And how I will trust you? What ensures me that you will not backstab us again and run away?"

"Because I cannot survived as a fugitive for long. As soon as you finish here, Kakashi will track me down, and believe me, it will be worse."

That made sense to Sakura. Sasuke was until trying to survive, that and Sakura suspected that he was trying to win points so when they will go back to Konoha he could have a better chance to escape the capital punishment. Still, there was some truth in his reasons.

"Ok. But if you do something as sneeze in the wrong direction, I will deal with you myself." Say Sakura as harsh as she could. She needed to get the point across. Sasuke just nodded.

After being untied by a reluctant Sakura, Sasuke wanted to know what the kunoichi had figured out.

"Ok, what's happening Sakura?"

"Not here, first let's find the others; I don't want to repeat myself. And, to clarify it, you covered our front while cover our rear."

And like that, both genins when in the direction that the others went, unknown to them they were being followed by Naruto, who had stayed close to Sakura all the time.

* * *

><p>Tenten had a ninjato with her at all times unsealed, just in case she had to conserve some chakra, or as this situation had presented itself, when her chakra was forcefully sealed. Because in her mind, that was the only explanation that she could come with. A side glance to her stoic teammate confirmed that he was still trying to activate his dojutsu. I was kind of cute, really, to see him so worried and insecure about the whole could-not-activate-my-precious-all-seeing-eyes-thing.<p>

"Hyuuga-sempai, Tenten-sempai, wait please!" both senior genins heard behind them. Turning around they both see the pinknette kunoichi (Tenten wondered it the color was truly natural). What really shock her was that in front of her was the traitor that had use said kunoichi as a meat shield. Tenten had heard that he girl was one of the Uchiha's number one fangirl, but she couldn't fathom how a school girl obsession could be so rooted in someone to ignore the other person obviously disregard for her feelings and life.

"Uchiha, I appreciated your intend of helping back there," started Neji, without really gratefulness in his voice, "but, what are you doing here, untied?"

"We need him." Answered Sakura. "I had figured out what is happening. Our chakra was sealed and…"

"Yeah, yeah. We had figured out as much." Said Tenten, interrupting Sakura's explanation. She was on edge because her precious babies… weapons were being kept away from her, she didn't want to lose more time as it was.

"But do you know how?" Tenten was also about to answer that too, but Sakura didn't wait for it. "Usually, when chakra is sealed, it is temporally, and the subject show signs of fatigue and exhaustion. Yet, ours had been sealed for almost 5 min and we still had to show said sings. Our chakra had not been completely sealed but redirected to somewhere, or something else."

Tenten, who had been studying seals from young each, the ones that were designated to weapons, storage and explosive tags to be more precise, understood immediately what the pinknette was trying to say. The two boys were not so…prepared, so to speak…to such talk.

"I see your point. But where is going?"

"Here." Answered Sakura while kneeling down and moving some dirt with her hand. Focusing on what she was doing, Tenten, Nej and Sasuke, after a second of pure staring to the ground (to the outsider this would appear really odd and funny), the genins noticed a little sing draw in the ground, somehow, with ink. It was so small that, if you were not looking for it, you would not be able to find it, but it would be obvious for your eyes after noticing it. It looked like a crescent moon, but not such quite, with the pointy prongs in triangle formation. Once again, both Neji and Sasuke didn't understood what they were seeing, although the little glowing symbol looked familiar to the Hyuuga.

Tenten simple became REALLY pale. "KUSO!" Swore the weapon mistress. Sasuke had enough.

"Ok, that's enough. Do any of you care enough to explain us what is happening?"

"Sasuke, what we are seeing is the seal equivalent of the Tiger Hand Sing; and is usually use in…" Sakura started.

"… Explosive tangs and their derivates." Finished Neji, now remembering why the seal looked so familiar.

"How big?" asked Sasuke. His knowledge of seal was sketchy at best, but he understood what was happening. The Tiger hand sing was used primarily for fire related techniques. Almost all the fire techniques, with few exceptions, ended with that sing. If one had to combine that particular hand sing and explosive tags, the result was obvious: they were standing on a bomb.

"If I'm right, big enough to make a crater of two or three kilometres radius."

That was big.

"What do we do?"

"I have a plan, but first, Tenten, do you have blank scroll?"

"I have two."

"That's even better. Now what we are going to do is this: Nehi, you…"

And just like that, Sakura, without her noticing, gain a lot deal of respect from Tenten despite her fangirlsim (is this even a real word?) prejudices, Neji and even Sasuke was impressed. Sakura's plan was sound and was adaptable enough in things go wary.

Naruto, being as "hidden" as he was, had heard everything, and he too was impressed by Sakura's intelligence. It seemed that she could apply to real life all her book smarts. But in her plan, they wasted a lot of time looking for their second objective, a female if Naruto recalled correctly from their previous encounter. And Naruto already knew the general direction where she was, and he would find her exact location a lot much faster, thanks to his Ghost Mode.

With that in mind Naruto went to located the target with the stealth that only a truth ninja could muster, with the rest of the genins as none the wiser.

* * *

><p>Rock Lee was sweaty, with a lot of bleeding cuts in his green covered body. He was mesmerize by how hi beloved sensei and his rival were dealing with the enemy. From the start, Lee had taken off his weights because they new that hey were not handling with a newbie. And yet, Gai-sensei was still with his weights and was evidently A LOT faster than Lee without his.<p>

When two high calibre opponents start to battle they usually don't move, or move slowly, because any movement of either part would set a whole series of attacks and counters. If Lee remember correctly, it was called the Shockwave Battle (**AN:**any reference for this could be researched in the totally awesome battle manga **History´s ****strongest ****disciple,****Kenichi/ Kenichi, ****the ****mightiest ****disciple**).

The enemy, whom Rock Lee ignore his name, was totally concentrated on Gai while Kakashi was in the sides waiting the right moment to strike. On his part, Rock Lee, when he could, approached the swordsman from behind without being noticed, but as soon as he was mere inches to punching him, the enemy react instinctively cutting him with his sword. All of then were aware that the guy not even acknowledged this fact, which Lee knew made him even more dangerous. The only possible way to set your body to automatic responses like that was trough the hellishest training he could imagine. Rock Lee knew, he had been there.

So, how he could be useful in this situation? Rock Lee didn't know, but he will not surrender in looking for a way because, as Gai-sensei wisely said once, _"… __hesitation __was __a __sure __invitation __to __defeat.__"_

With that in mind, Rock Lee launch again after finding a new opening in the swordsman defence.

* * *

><p>Sasuke and Sakura were together looking in an area while Neji and Tenten were looking in another. She had her stoic poker face all the time but inside was a different story. Sakura just knew, to her shame, that her old self would literally kill anyone for an opportunity like this, along with Sasuke. At the moment, if Sakura was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure what she was feeling. Sigh. How much she missed to talk with Ino. Her blond friend always seemed to know what to say.<p>

Suddenly, all her thoughts were jerked away with the sound of metal clashing with metal. She and the Uchiha shared a brief glance, before dashing to the origin of the Sound. They arrive at the same moment Neji and Tenten. What they saw confused them for a moment.

In the middle of the clearing was the woman that had escape with the swordsman in their previous altercation. It seemed that she was cut in different places if her battled clothes were any indication to go by. Sakura confirmed that she had been right with her supposition of what was happening when she saw that the woman was standing on a familiar looking seal array.

Just for a second, the four genins could see how, out of nowhere the glittering of a kunai appear and disappear as soon as it came. It was sure that a civilian would be able to see it. And, what was better, the random cutting had so occupied their objective that the woman didn't notice that she, and whoever her assailant was, were not alone anymore.

As cue, both Tenten, with her ninjato at hand, and Sasuke with two kunais, launched an attack that took by surprised their target.

* * *

><p>"<em>Tenten-sempai, Sasuke; both of you are melee type combats. You two would be mainly on the offensive. Your job would be to wound our target as much as possible without killing her. If she died, we will be blown to tiny little pieces, if any. I will be you support and my main job is to look for a way to tie this to the target." Said Sakura while doing some strange sings on a blank scroll.<em>

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As stealthily as possible, Sakura was looking a way to approach her without being detected. She noticed that as soon as Sasuke and Tenten charged, the "phantom kunai" avoid them at the same time that its speed increased. This confirmed who they thought was the culprit.

"_UZUMAKI / NARUTO!"_

* * *

><p>Effectively, Naruto was the one behind the blitz attacks. It wasn't as he was TOO fast, it was that, because the Ghost Mode, the only moment that his teammates could seen him was moments before the strike. In reality, they wouldn't be able to see him is he didn't want them to, but to hide it completely would cause more harm than good.<p>

Another slash and their deadly dance continued while Hyuuga Neji was closing their range.

* * *

><p>"<em>Neji, <em>_your __task __will __be __crucial. __This__… " __said __Sakura __while __continue __drawing __the __sealing __arrays,__ "__is __a __Disrupting __Seal. __Since __I __cannot __use __my __chakra __to __charge __the __seal __will __last __only __3 __or __4 __seconds __max __with __the __sealing __ink__'__s __chakra, __after __being __in __contact __with __the __target__'__s __skin. __Immediately, __any __of __us __will __be __able __to __use __our __chakra. __Neji, __you __will __seal __the __target__'__s __chakra __with __your _Juunken _as __much __as __you __can. __Meanwhile, __I __will __start __to __deactivate __the __Bomb __Seal.__"_

* * *

><p>Neji was waiting the right moment while he saw Sakura approaching really fast and quiet. It was surprising that as talented as the target obviously was, she wasn't noticing Haruno's approach; but it was happening nonetheless, and the reason was also blatantly apparent: Uzumaki-san was really skilled, much more than he suspected.<p>

Out of the blue, Sakura slam the seal on the enemy kunoichi's neck. As soon as it happened, Neji felt his chakra cursing through his tenketsus. Just one thing was left to say:

"**Juunken: ****Hakke ****Rokujūyon ****Shō **(Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)**"****.**

* * *

><p>At the same exact moment Rock Lee found his opportunity. With a full kick in his left shoulder, their enemy stumble enough to give an opportunity to Gai. Sadly, this left Lee stupidly open to a counter and the swordsman knew this little fact, one that he capitalized on.<p>

Kakashi immediately felt his Sharingan activating and, without second though, switched himself with Rock Lee via the Replacement Technique. And just before he was to be cut, he did something that only his late sensei had been able to do: he forced a Replacement on the enemy's sword with a nearby rock. It took an stupidly amount of chakra, but this was the moment Gai was waiting for.

Using taijutsu skills that even the Hokage would be hard-pressed to counter, the unnamed swordsman was dealt with by the green clad jounin.

* * *

><p>Sakura disarmed the bomb with utterly easy. The design was simple to crack, yet powerful. She finished as Maito Gai, Rock Lee and Hatake Kakashi showed up with the swordsman tied up and unconscious.<p>

She smiled and was about to wave his teacher when the kunoichi that they had supposedly defeated, appeared behind her with her partners sword at hand and hit hear in her nape, rendering her unconscious. She was about to activate the bomb again, when Naruto appeared out of nowhere and took disarmed her with childish easy while starting to run away.

Then severely things happened at once.

Naruto couldn't make too far when he suddenly felt immense pain that knocked him out. Next to him, the enemy's sword glowed a crimson colour that faded fast before he sword literally melted in the ground. But several people were focusing on something else.

A few metres not too far, was the kunoichi held by the throat by a female hand that was attached to Haruno Sakura, yet, something was different in her. Her face was adorned by a, what could be considered evil, smirk and her eyes were changed. Instead of her normal jaded green, the pinknette now portrayed an unnatural pair of glowing pink eyes.

And thus, like the old proverb said, nothing would be the same.

.

.

.

.

Cut!


	13. Between good and evil

**AN AT THE END^^**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: Between Good and Evil: Tying loosens ends.<strong>

* * *

><p><em>A child is born in innocence. A child is thrown in to goodness. Why, then, so many of us go through so horrible things? What makes that some choose a path of darkness, while others choose the light? Is destiny? Are we going to be able to understand the forces that form the soul? To fight evil one has to know evil. One has to go back in time and find that bifurcation where the heroes take one path and the villains… another. It exist good and evil, right and wrong, heroes and villains. And we are blessed with the wisdom of knowing that there are spaces in between the cracks of each one, with some light filtering through then. We wait in silence for those moments, when something makes sense. When the senseless existence gets focus and our purpose shows itself. And if we have the strength to be honest, of what we find looking us in the mirror. To be witnesses of the duality of life, that each one of us is capable of both: the darkness and the light. Good and evil. Of anyone… or both of them. And fate, while it goes in our direction, can turn depending in the choices that we take. For the love to which we cling, and the promises that we fulfil. <em>

Mohinder Suresh, **Heroes**_. _

* * *

><p>Pain. Agony. Those were the closest words that Hyuuga Hiashi could pin to feelings that he was suffering at the moment. He had known that some of his <em>actions<em> would meet some sort of punishment, but this, this was unbearable. He had committed a mistake; he hadn't taken in consideration his daugh… Hinata-sama's mood and now he was paying for it. Ever since Kakashi's and Gai's teams had arrived to the village one week ago, with both Haruno Sakura and Uzumki Naruto unconscious, Hinata had been in a terrible mood. Damn Kyuubi-brat, even indirect….

He couldn't finish that thought because the pain increased tenfold.

"You should be careful with your thoughts, Hiashi." Said the cold, apathetic voice of Hyuuga Hinata, watching without a once of care for the man in front of her. "Did you know how or why you are feeling so much pain? Because I clearly stated that the new seal didn't have the pain function anymore. Do you think that I lied back then?". Hiashi was confused himself, but he didn't respond because he didn't want to earn another pain treatment. It was de incorrect decision because the pain increased again. Getting the point, he barely nodded. "When I aske you a question, I want you to answer. Now, back to the point, the answer is, of course, one of the techniques of my eyes. Yes Hiashi, don't look so perplexed. This pain is your own guilt, your own remorse caused by the sin of betraying your mistress: ME! You see, is not that I control you whole like a puppeteer, is that I control everything, in and out from your subconscious to your superficial thoughts. Each time you think of betraying your Master or your clan, each you lied to me or Naruto, each of those times your own mind _feels_… guilty, so to speak, and cause you emotional pain. This is the power of **Ashura**" Hiashi was awed in true terror while listening to his new mistress. It was like the impossible could occur on daily basis with this new Byakugan. He want them, he want them so bad. And like, the pain increased again, causing Hiashi to silently beg, because he could not even talk, for the relief of death, a relief that never came.

"Careful there Hiashi, I have decided to teach the Hyuuga Clan humility. Each time that you, and anyone of this clan for that matter, decided to be your arrogant prideful selves then you would feel really, REALLY uncomfortable. And now, everybody in the Clan knows this." And, for a second, Hinata's eyes flashed bright before turned back to their normal state.

Unknown to Hiashi, everybody on the clan received a… transmission, sort of, about the conversation that their former leader and their new one had had, explaining why, recently, random clan member's collapsed and started twitching madly in pain for no reason. It was not a surprise that the majority of the victims were the former elders of the clan and some of the former main branch. But they now they knew another reason why they could not rebel against their mistress. Hinata, smirking internally by the humiliation that the man in front of her had suffered in the eyes of his clan. Cutting the connection, because their next conversation need to be private, the Hyuuga Leader prepared herself to intentionally show a bit of her hand.

"Tell me Hiashi, I'm curious," not even humour was in her voice, "what did you expect to accomplish going behind my back, trying to find how I obtained this **Fukoi Byakugan** of mine?"

Hiashi could not respond. The pain receded, but his body was suffering the phantom symptoms of it.

In true, Hinata was not _really_ angry towards the pathetic form of the man that she had called father. Her anger came from the fact that the time that she and her beloved were apart, their link was anything but functioning. The stress and worry for Naruto had been plaguing her during the whole mission. She of course had unleashed some of the pent up frustrations on the bandit army that they had slaughtered. She even had used **Emma-O **for target practice. **Emma**, contrary of what the outsider would believe, didn't control time, but control the perception of time of anybody in its range. It was the ultimate genjutsu that didn't have any counter and one that nobody was immune, one that didn't required eyed contact but to be in a certain range, one that Hinata was sure could rival or surpass Itachi´s infamous **Tsukiyonomi.** With her eyes activated, Hinata proceed to massacre as much people as she could. Using high speed, she had ended 72 lives that day, and not even felt a pang of remorse.

The icing of the cake though had been how she had dealt with their class slut, Ino. The Yamanaka was beautiful, and she would be even more so in the future. Hinata knew that at the moment, Naruto breath and live for her, but she couldn't afford to be lenient, not after all she had gone through. And so, she had to set some limits to avoid future confrontations. With Ino, she had done remarkably well. To the outsider, Hinata just did some simple questions about Ino intentions toward Naruto. In reality, it was much more than that. Hinata didn't use any genjutsu, cause it would had been detected, not she had used KI. What Hinata used was her mind.

Nobody knew, not even the Yamanaka Clan, that the Mind Walkers' current generation had been developing son sort of mental mid range empathy. Ino herself was the one to discover this in the early days of the war, after being almost mentally overloaded in the battlefield by her comrades' emotions. What Hinata did was to broadcast certain _emotions_ with some words in their conversation. The result? Ino had gone visibly paler each minute of their…chat. In the end, the blond had even gone to trough up minutes later of the end of their conversation.

All that had lifted the Hinata's spirit a little bit, but all that had gone down to the gutter when, days later, Naruto had arrive to the village unconscious, alongside with the pinknette bitch. And the worst, their link hadn't gone back to normal, not even when, the day before, Naruto had wakened up. He had sent her a message that he would talk to her later, but need to do some things first.

So, yeah. Hinata was completely angry at everything, a little less than before though.

"Hiashi, please sit down straight." Said Hinata. Hiashi, pain at all, sit down immediately. It was like his body was a puppet that would obey even if he was unconscious. It did nothing to alleviate the pain though, if anything, it increased it more.

"Do you want to know how I achieved such a feat?" Hiashi manage to nod. "It is simple. I didn't" confusion was all over the man's face. "The **Fukoi Byakugan** was part of mom's _Revelation._" THAT made Hiashi's eyes wide in astonishment. "It was not complete though, since mother died before she could do it, so I complete it, and now it had become my _Revelation._"

"Does it mean that you are…?" managed to say Hiashi, but was interrupted by Hinata´s shaking head in negative manner.

"No, no yet at least. I had to understand it first to reach…_that level_. But is a matter of time. I had completed my mastery over this Great Power, and I'm half way to complete the Second One. "

Not one, but two Great Powers. Hyuuga Hiashi knew then and there that, if what he heard was the truth, they never had a chance to strike back. That the failure of a daughter that he once had, the embarrassment of the Hyuuga Clan, the weak pathetic girl known as Hyuuga Hinata had reached a station impossible to reach.

Hinata just smirked. Unknown to anybody, except for Naruto, in two months from now, the Hyuugan clan as a whole would be totally under her control. It was not just the subliminal brainwashing that she was doing to them, but now it would be absolute control. When that day comes, then her desires will be their wills, like she was her goddess and them her creations. And the best part of it was that it would be permanent. Not it even Naruto knew it, but establishing commands, like the one of feeling pain each time they feel arrogant, was extremely taxing. She was sure that, hadn't it been for the high speed regeneration and immense chakra pool that she had obtain from the vixen, she would have been dead or a vegetable thanks to the strain that her brain suffered. Still, the migraine it caused was unbearable. But after the deed was done, she would not have to worry about losing control over them again.

"_Soon, when the Hyuuga become my lapdogs, then we can start with Phase Two: Konoha."_

* * *

><p>"You are lucky, do you know that, Uchiha Sasuke?" said Yamanka Inoichi to his newly appointed patient. After Teams Kakashi and Gai had arrived with the worst to wear, the scum in front of him was <em>questioned<em> under the _tender_ cares of Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko. What they discovered made him to unleash some interesting mind torturing techniques on the traitor that he had been developing; alas, it was not his call. And Inoichi was not alone on how he felt. Haruno Makina, Sakura's mother, a former Uchiha Defendant and Advocate, had been totally silent through the whole ordeal.

"I had gone through all your memories, particularly those from _that_ day. Your brother really messed you up badly." Continued Inoichi. Sasuke, of course, was wary. How and when the blond man had go inside his head? "It is interesting; really, it is. Personally, I think that you should be execute right know. You are a traitor, a selfish bastard that only cares for his own needs. But you are a shinobi, and you had masterfully avoided the capital punishments like one."

It pissed him off. Sasuke himself had admitted that he had helped his team so he could avoid being killed. And he really had helped a lot. It was clear in his mind that, hadn't Sasuke screw up in the very end, he would had avoid punishment all together. But he only had been put on probation for the next 18 months with reduced pay and psychological treatment with Inoichi himself, a treatment that had been interrupted shortly after it had begun after the Uchiha Massacre under the Civilian Council insistence.

Thinking about that, Inoichi started to go through the mission last moments, when everything went down south.

(Flashback)

_Hatake Kakashi, Maito Gai and Rock Lee were approaching the group with the unconscious and wounded form of their attacker. Gai had the prisoner while his prized student had the beautiful sword in his hand. Kakashi was back to his mutt… I mean, literature._

_Sasuke was so caught in relief that he didn't notice that he hadn't secure the ropes that were tying their own prisoner, as Tenten had told him. Thus, it came as big surprise when the defeated girl somehow appeared next to the green clan genin, kicked him and took the sword form him. Immediately, the now dangerous girl substituted herself with a rock behind Sakura, who was kneeled facing the ground still deactivating the Seal Bomb, ready to relieve theher head from the pinknette's shoulders. She would have succeeded if Naruto, that somehow appeared literally out of nowhere too (really, what was going on with people pooping in and out?), hadn't stop her._

_But everything went really wrong. As soon as Naruto touched the sword to stop her, a purplish flash surrounded them for a second. The enemy kunoichi was sent flying against a tree but manage to land on it safely, Naruto wasn't so lucky. As everything cleared up, the saw the blond unconscious in the floor and next to him was the offender sword melting away._

_CRASH!_

_Everybody turned their heads toward the sound. There, pinned on the same tree that she had landed before, the kunoichi was held by the throat by Haruno Sakura. But something was different. It may be the light of the moon, but somehow the usual light pink longhair that Sakura had now it seemed various tones darker, more like a magenta colour. With a force that none of them thought was possible, the kunoichi took her pray and span her up and then to the ground, hard enough to crack the landing point. And then, they saw it. Sakura's usual light green eyes were a bright pink. On her face, a sadistic smirk adorned her face, one that sent chills through everyone spines. _

_Quickly, with a pair of kunai, and before anybody could stop her, Sakura gutted her pray in the most savage way possible. The gore, the blood, made a grotesque scenery to anybody to see. She would have continue if not been for Kakashi, who Shunshined behind her and chopped her neck rendering her unconscious._

_Shocked by what had transpired, any of them noticed that their other prisoner had disappeared. And any of then, Sasuke included, noticed that the Uchiha's eyes had change to the infamous read and black design._

(End of flashback)

"Tell me Sasuke, when your Sharingan activated, what were you thinking?" asked Inoichi. He already knew the answer, but Sasuke needed to learn something form Sasuke.

The brooding avenger in question, stop his annoyances and decided to think over it. What he was thinking back then? After a couple of minutes he realized that the small pain in his eyes, indicating the awakening of the Uchiha dojutsu, started when the kunoichi was about to decapitate Sakura.

"_Come on Sasuke, think. What was running through your head at that exact moment?"_ Thought the Uchiha. He knew that he wasn't too good dealing with his emotions, but this seemed to be important, if the blond man's face was any indication. What his mother would have said?

Then it hit him. It was not excitement, not the thrill of battle. It was de despair, the misery to watch helplessly how he couldn't do anything again. For a second, he overlapped Sakura's frame with his mother's, being stabbed by the bastard of the man that he once called brother. Back then, he didn't want to lose something important again, he didn't want to lose his teammate, not like this. Somehow, without him noticing, his team had become important to him, even if he want to get rid of one of them. He wanted to protect her.

"I wanted to protect her." Said Sasuke with certainty.

Inoichi smiled a little bit. Sasuke was a bastard, was selfish, but despite all that, deep inside him was a small good part in him buried by his childhood trauma. "Sasuke, when your brother let you, he left you message of hate, despair and sadness. If you follow these words, his will so to speak, you will like him in your quest of vengeance. Sasuke, the power of your Sharingan responded to your desire to protected instead of just your own ambitions." And with that Inoichi ended their daily therapy session.

Sasuke, silently, felt true remorse for the first time in years. He didn't acknowledge the trail of tears falling from his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Now Naruto, we are secured and in private, are you going to tell me what happened while you were unconscious and didn't write it in your report?"asked with even voice the Sandaime Hokage.<p>

"Hai" answered Naruto before becoming silent again. To the Sandaime it looked like Naruto was looking for the right words to begin. The old leader let him patiently.

"The sword's name was **Kawarene**" Naruto begin. "And it was aware of itself, self-conscious, so to speak." This surprise Sandaime for a moment, not that it showed, because conscious swords, _Meitou_, were really rare, if not unheard of. "It last owner was a young and strong woman called Otori Shigeko. The sword had the ability to storage the memories of its owners." Sarutobi had an idea were this was going. "She showed me the _Blood Moon Battle._" Sarutobi nodded. He knew about that battle, because it involved one of their former allies, the Uzumaki. Naruto, by his part, confirmed his suspicions about the Hokage's knowledge who was known as _The Professor_ for good reasons. "You know then how it ended. As thanks, one of the elders of the Oroti clan, in joint from one of the Uzumaki clan called Uzumaki Hyoma, worked on a project for the Uzumaki."

Uzumaki Hyoma was known in the Uzumaki Clan, a clan specialized in the Seal Arts, by the moniker of _The God of Seals_. It is said that nobody had surpassed Hyuma in his field, even centuries after his death.

"The project was the creation of a Gekken Genkai." Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up taken by surprise.

"_A new Bloodline! This is great news, with this, Konoha will be even more powerful. I will bemore powerful." _Were the thoughts of the Hokage. Regaining his usual composure, he sited down again.

"That was my reaction too. The sword gave the location were the bloodline could be acquire. And I know is a powerful bloodline. And now I now where it is, since it was designed for a Uzumaki to have it once it was completed." Finished Naruto.

"I assume that this is the reason why you have spent this last for days in the geography section of the Library." Stated the Hokage.

"Hai! This is why I came to request a tracking team, with Team 8 in mind, as an escort. I need to go there to claim a little bit of my family legacy."

"I see. This, of course, benefits the village as a whole, so I will arrange the details. Now I have a question: Where it is located it?" Sarutobi was really curious. Hopefully it wouldn't be in any enemy territory.

"It is in what is today some part of the Land of Waves."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was taken a back a little bit, not that it showed, before grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat, a sight that unnerved Naruto to no end.

"_It seems that payback would be sooner than expected"_ thought happily the Sandaime.

* * *

><p>Ino was staring the flowers on the hospital room that she and Chouji had brought to Sakura's. Her pinknette friend was still unconscious ever since her team had come back from their mission. At the other side of the bed was Chouji, holding Sakura's unmoving hand while he was slept in his chair.<p>

It honestly surprised her. She hadn't seen it in a million of years: Akaimichi Chouji had a crush on Haruno Sakura. And frankly, she didn't know what to think. She supposed that she was just worry that any of her friends ended hurt by the other, right? Right?

She shivered a little bit. The memory of her conversation with Hinata had been engraved in ice in her heart. What had happened with little shy sweet Hinata? She didn't treat her or anything alike. But she felt like she had been talking about her funeral arrangement with the Shinigami.

"_Sakura, was this the reason why you are so scared?"_ Sight. _"What are you playing at…Naruto?"_

Ino sighted. She felt so useless at the moment.

* * *

><p>"So, what happened to Haruno Sakura, Akabane-sensei?" asked the Sandaime to the man in front of him.<p>

Dr. Shou Akabane was the medic in charge of team 7's female member. He was one of a kind because his expertise about Gekken Genkai and was only outclassed by Senju Tsunade herself in that aspect.

"Is strange, but it doesn't look like a bloodline. We don't know what happeded to her, but whatever it was changed her chakra completely."

"What do you mind? Did her chakra become toxic?" a rare occurrence, mused the Hokage, but a possibility nonetheless.

"No, on the contrary. Her chakra became 100% light chakra." Said the medic as perplexed as he felt.

Sarutobi didn´t blame him. Chakra, after intensive research and experimentation, could be classified in 3 categories: the normal human Chakra, Yoki or demonic chakra (that could be use by demons, _hanyous_, _jinchuurikis_ and _mazukus_) and Haki (used by Holy Spirits and Monks); there was a fourth type that not many people new about: Seinki or Natural Chakra, and was the wand that the earth possessed itself and only, that he new about, Sages could use it. Human Chakra also could be classified in two categories: Light and Heavy.

Every human had both of then but in different proportions. Per example, Light users tended to be more reinforce types: quick healing, more endurance and stamina, greater strength, speed and reflexes. Heavy, in the other hands, were more…flashy, this tended to have harder defences and their jutsus were ones that require a lot of chakra. Heavy were the damage dealers. There were exceptions, of course, being the Uzumaki Clan prime examples. They were Heavy types, all of then, but their Light proportions were as dense as their Heavy ones. Uzumaki Kushina, per example, could solidify her chakra on chains to subdue the Kyuubi. Uzumaki Mito, Shodaime's wife, could do something similar.

And now, an abnormality had risen. "What that means sensei?"

"I'm not too sure, since this is totally unheard of. The only thing that I can say for certain is that Haruno Sakura would not be able to use elemental ninjutsu, and the chakra techniques that require a lot of chakra versus chakra control will be ridiculously difficult."

"I see." Said the Hokage, sighting. It seemed that he had done that too much lately.

* * *

><p><strong>(AN: insert the song <em>Switch ga Haittara<em> by Chiaki Ishikawa)**

Naruto was walking at slow pace toward the Hyuuga compound while thinking in everything that had happened lately. It was bothering him. While he was unconscious he had heard two voices, a female and a male, calling him. They sound familiar yet foreign to him, He had his suspicions about who they may be, but it seemed too far fetched to him.

Before he had notice, he was in front of Hinata's room. Blinking for a second, he knocked. Immediately the beautiful face of Hyuuga Hinata showed up before launching in a missile hug before giving the blond the most passionate kiss that she had gave in both timelines.

After a couple of minutes they broke apart to grasp some air. Naruto, shaking the dazing bliss that he currently was at, turned serious why watching her noticing his change of humour.

"Hinata-chan, we need to talk."

* * *

><p>"Fu, it seems that we were… rejected" said the monotone voice of Himura Danzo.<p>

"So it seems, Danzo-sama."

"Well, we just need to be more… persuasive." Said the war hawk while his unbandaged arm touched his covered eye.

"_It seems that I will use Shusui's gift sooner that I expected."_

* * *

><p>In the Konoha Hospital, Haruno Sakura opened her eyes: one their usual green and the other of an unnatural pinkish colour.<p>

* * *

><p><em>On the sixth day God created the man to his image. Now it falls on us to understand it. Right… Wrong… Good… Evil… In each one of us is the power to decide what drives our actions. What make that some choose with altruism the need to dedicate oneself to something greater, while others only known self interest… insulating themselves in a world of their measure? Some only seek love, even when is not returned, while others are compelled by fear and treason. And there are those that see their own choices as a dark proof of God's absence, while others follow a path of noble destiny. But in the end: good, evil, right, wrong… what we choose never is what we really need. That's why it is the supreme cosmic joke, the true gift that God had left behind.<em>

Sylar, **Heroes**_. _

* * *

><p><strong>End of Part 1<strong>

* * *

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And CUT!

Yeas, you read right. With this, the first volume of the **Epiphany Series** is complete. It had been a whole adventure and I thank those that had staid till the end, grammas/spelling mistakes include, especially you **devilzxknight86,** your own work and suggestion had help me immensely.

**Brown Phantom, **a great writer that I recommend all you to read, pointed out that some of the elements that I have you were remarkable similar to one of his own work, _Student of the Snake_. I checked it to confirm it and he was right, there is a lot of similitude. But I said that it had been pure coincided because until this point I haven't read his work, something that I had correct now.

The next volume of this story is going to be publish after I write at least the first five chapters, and so far I had two completed and the third is half way, so is a huge possibility that I publish it between the last week of January and the second week of February. The reason is that I start classes tomorrow so my writing time will be limited.

By the way, I let a poll on my profile of my next work and I want you to vote. The poll will be close the 20th of January so please, I want to know you decision^^.

And now, a little preview of the next issue:

"_**At last, I'm free!"**_

"_**Mother? Father? How? Why?"**_

"… _**Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame. Please, take me with you."**_

"… _**yes Sasuke. You and Itachi are not the only Uchihas alive."**_

"_**Why she left the village? Why she left me?"**_

"_**Welcome… to Akatsuki!"**_

**_Volume 2: _Epiphany: Bloodline**


	14. news!

Then new part of Epiphany is out. Please go an check it and leave your opinions on it^^


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